HSBC haven't gone to the taxpayers - so I really dont get what you are trying to prove.

To me they are protecting their business. Banks are doing less business in the retail market than they were one or two years ago therefore it makes sence they need less staff - what do you think mortgage processors who work at banks been doing for the last year? They haven't been processing mortgages yet the banks are still paying them a wage!

Because our government and other capitalist governments around the world want to defend the capitalist system - the status quo - which is lead by banks and credit.
They reason that if the banks all collapse then the world economy will collapse and that that will impact on you, me and everyone in this country and all other countries.
Thus, they are propping up the banks not to keep the bankers in jobs but to keep their national economy and the world economy going - and quite frankly to keep order and their own jobs too.
The banking system works on confidence and if those big bankers all lost their jobs then that would impact on the economy more. That is why most of the bankers - who caused the problems - are keeping their jobs.

LB & orina, Guess what?, at the time the Govt. offered to prop up the banks there was no hint of redundancy etc from the major banks, now all of a sudden they have decided they are no better off than other employers and are forsaking the Aussie public, but guess what? they are only carrying out our biggest problem in this company, no loytalty and no bloody customer service…from any one.

the government have messed this up big time. they should have let these banks fail and set up a national bank under government control. suprise, surprise the banks used our money to reward each other for abject failure, these banks are still going down and take our cash with them its just gonna take a bit longer. the governer of the boe announced yesterday that there will be no more bail outs as there is no money left anyway.