Times are hard for bankers - but they did nearly bankrupt the planet

Nomura, Barclays, Citigroup and more are signalling tough times in investment banking. And then there's the EU referendum... The difference between an investment banker and a pigeon, the old joke went during the credit crunch, is that a pigeon can put down a deposit on a new Porsche. It's not a classic, perhaps, but it was enough to irk many of the jumped-up bookmakers that inhabit the trade, until the shock of nearly bankrupting the planet wore off and they discovered new ways of trousering mas...