When Josef Ackermann, head of Deutsche Bank, admitted in an internal meeting that he would find it "a shame if we asked for money from the taxpayers", the reaction from Berlin was equally harsh. Outraged instead of being grateful, Steinbrück and Merkel urged Ackermann to stop stigmatising needy banks by such "irresponsible behaviour". Peter Sodann, left-wing candidate for the German presidency, even wanted to put Ackermann in jail. It doesn't help that, behind the scenes, Ackermann has provided his technical expertise to help put the federal aid package together. The mood is against him, as it is against all bankers.

The economist Hans Werner Sinn recently lamented that bankers have been made scapegoats. His sensible public call to reason has, however, turned out to be devastatingly counterproductive. Just how thoughtless can one be to draw a parallel between 2008 and the bankers on the one hand, and 1929 and the Jews on the other, as he did? Our bankers need better advocacy. For the common good.