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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Remember that scene in Tropic Thunder where Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr. in controversial blackface) schools Ben Stiller’s Tugg Speedman about Oscar-bait performances? An over-the-top satire of the movie industry, US cinemas were picketed on the film’s release in 2008 over what protestors said was unacceptable hate speech.
“Everybody knows you never go full retard,” Lazarus declares, before launching into a critique of Hollywood’s cynical exploitation of disability for awards:
Check it out. Dustin Hoffman, Rain Man, look retarded, act retarded, not retarded. Counted toothpicks, cheated cards. Autistic, sho’. Not retarded. You know Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump. Slow, yes. Retarded, maybe. Braces on his legs. But he charmed the pants off Nixon and he won a ping-pong competition. That ain’t retarded. He was a’ goddamn war hero. You know any retarded war heroes? You went full retard, man. Never go full retard. You don’t buy that? Ask Sean Penn, 2001, I Am Sam. Remember? Went full retard, went home empty-handed.
Now in 2025, following Donald Trump’s election victory, Wall Street seems to be having its own Tropic Thunder moment. A recent article in the FT, ”Is corporate America going MAGA?”, reports a striking shift in Wall Street culture. Some bankers are ready to bring back the r-word, with no hint of irony involved:
Even the way people on Wall Street talk and interact is changing. Bankers and financiers say that Trump’s victory has emboldened those who chafed at “woke doctrine” and felt they had to self-censor or change their language to avoid offending younger colleagues, women, minorities, or disabled people.
“I feel liberated,” said a top banker. “We can say ‘retard’ and ‘pussy’ without the fear of getting cancelled . . . it’s a new dawn.”
Some Wall Streeters also feel able to embrace making money openly, without nodding to any broader social goals. “Most of us don’t have to kiss ass because, like Trump, we love America and capitalism,” one said.
But hold your horses. Something doesn’t add up here. Notice how these supposedly “liberated” financiers are all speaking anonymously? That’s not exactly storming the barricades of political correctness — it’s more like throwing stones while hiding behind the fortress of journalist source protection.
And there’s a good reason for their caution. Wall Street’s true religion isn’t MAGA or woke ideology — it’s the relentless pursuit of risk-adjusted returns. These financial mavens haven’t forgotten that employment tribunals, internal disciplinary hearings, discrimination lawsuits, and HR departments didn’t vanish in a puff of smoke with Trump’s comeback. The risk-reward math on workplace epithets remains brutally simple: best case scenario, you get a brief thrill from being edgy; worst case, job termination and career extermination. Not exactly a sound trade.
Smart money knows better than anyone that today’s unstoppable trend is tomorrow’s cautionary tale. Remember how recently these same institutions were falling over themselves to pledge billions to Black Lives Matter and roll out diversity initiatives? Those unconscious bias trainings haven’t disappeared. The pendulum that swung one way can swing back just as fast, and no seasoned operator bets their career on a single direction.
When handing out the awards, Wall Street is no less cynical than Hollywood. You never want to go all-in; you hedge.
So I don’t expect much to change. Global banks have spent decades building empires that rely on talent and clients from every conceivable background. No one’s going to torch that foundation just for the privilege of using epithets on the trading floor. In finance, reputation is the asset, liability is the perennial concern, and every competent banker knows not to YOLO through that calculus. And risk management isn’t some woke imposition – it’s critical to long-term survival.
The chest-thumpers celebrating their “new dawn” are actually doing exactly what they claim to despise: virtue signaling, just to a different audience. Although many bankers have strong ideological beliefs and are big political donors, Wall Street as an institution isn’t about political tribes — it’s about cold, hard numbers. The truly smart players will keep their heads down and their language clean in public, not because they’re cowed by ideology, but because professionalism and decorum comprise the ultimate risk management strategy.
So while these anonymous tough guys or gals toast their imaginary emancipation from political correctness, the real players are doing what made them successful in the first place: reading the room, managing their exposure, and playing the long game. In finance, true freedom isn’t about indulging every impulse – it’s also about mastering the art of knowing what not to say, and understanding that in an environment of office politics and cutthroat competition, sustainable returns don’t come from short-term provocations.
After all, if you really feel liberated, why not put your name on it?
