Just as America's fragile economy was beginning to show signs of revival, investor confidence is flagging once again. This could mean what we all feared: a minor reduction in Wall Street employment.

The WSJ reports that thanks to a shaky economy, uncertainty about future M&A activity, and all of NObama's reforms, the finance sector could be in store for a reversal of its recent job gains. Yes, securities industry employment is up 1.2% since March; but it's down nearly 7% since the salad days of 2007. (Which is when the huge, deadly bubble was fully inflated, so clearly, we expect to get right back to those levels as soon as possible). It's almost as if the stupid economy is trying to blame its collapse on the people who made it collapse. Will America's 20-something Ivy League dickheads ever be free to make wildly outsized salaries again, quite as much?

Yes. No one thinks this is much more than a temporary hiccup. The faster America gets rid of wasteful notions like Corporate Social Responsibility, the faster unemployed Detroiters can find their cockles warmed by the knowledge that Goldman Sachs is still hiring. Somebody.

[WSJ]