“The End of Wall Street as They Knew It,” proclaims the headline on the cover story of New York magazine this week, an epic account of the woes of post-crash bankers. The masters of the universe have had their bonuses slashed, the story says, due to the suffering economy and the provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation. The industry also cut 200,000 jobs. Where’s a young, mathematically inclined valedictorian to turn?

“If you’re a smart Ph.D from MIT, you’d never go to Wall Street now,” one hedge fund executive told the magazine. “You’d go to Silicon Valley. There’s at least a propsect for a huge gain. You’d have the potential to be the next Mark Zuckerberg. It looks like he has a lot more fun.” Read More