Wave of banker suicides alarms industry

Bloomberg:

Coroners in London are preparing to investigate two apparent suicides as unexpected deaths by finance workers around the world have raised concerns about mental health and stress levels in the industry.

The inquest into the death of William Broeksmit, 58, a retired Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) risk executive found dead in his London home in January, will start tomorrow. The inquest for Gabriel Magee, a 39-year-old vice president in technology operations at JPMorgan Chase (JPM) & Co., who died after falling from the firm’s 33-story London headquarters, is scheduled for late May.

The suicides were followed by others around the world, including at JPMorgan in Hong Kong, as well as Mike Dueker, the chief economist at Seattle-based Russell Investment Management Co. The financial world’s aggressive, hard-working culture may be hurting itself, professionals advising on mental health in the industry say.

Flashback:

Try changing hands

Johnson shut down with forearm strain

Greenspan's Body Count: L'Wren Scott, girlfriend of Mick Jagger

Debt distress reaches all levels of society:

L’Wren Scott, prominent fashion designer and long-time girlfriend of Mick Jagger, was found dead in an apparent suicide in her New York City apartment on Monday morning. It has been revealed by MailOnline that Scott was “distraught and ‘embarrassed’ over her failing business.” According to MailOnline, L’Wren Scott’s company was $6 million in debt at the time of her suicide. An assistant discovered her body after receiving a text at 8:30 a.m. from Scott requesting her to go over to Scott’s 11th Avenue apartment and let herself in. After hearing about Scott’s death, actress Ellen Barkin and several other close friends went to Scott’s apartment. One friend said that Scott had been avoiding phone calls and had been acting strangely for more than a week.

Greenspan's Body Count stands at 251.

UPDATE: Bernanke's Body Count? Most of the debt burden seems to have been piled on during Bernanke's post-crash liquidity sloshfest:

Her company’s debt was growing over the years, going from $2,120,015.67 in 2009 to $3,063,160.87 in 2010.

Memories

Remember when the media gave Obama an assist by mocking Romney for saying that Russia was our greatest geopolitical foe?

How's that workin' out for ya?

Happy Pi Day! 3.14

Next year we'll have 3.14.15:9:26.5359. Mark your calendar!

In unrelated news, John Kerry walks into a bar in Ukraine. The bartender says, "Why the long face?"

A brief update from the last community that Obama re-organized

UN Report: Security Situation in Libya 'Considerably Deteriorated,' Arms Exported Throughout Region

Arguing with Ph.D.s

Yes, there are probably more productive uses of my time than arguing with myopic, model-worshipping, economics Ph.D.s.

But this is Menzie Chinn, of losing-a-battle-of-wits-to-Sarah-Palin fame.

Today's episode is Chinn defending Obama's GDP forecast by comparing it to a projection based on the last half-century's unprecedented debt boom.

Read the comments and enjoy.

But she still sings a great "Let It Go!"

Senate rejects Debo Adegbile.

Obama budget strategy: raise taxes and assume an awesome economy

More at Zero Hedge.

Obama goes to see Putin