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“Bankster” is a derogatory term for a corrupt or greedy banker, originating in right-wing American politics. It has been used by members of the Austrian School of Economics and modern libertarians who distrust the Federal Reserve System. The term is also used by the left to describe insiders who profit from questionable means.
The term “bankster,” derived from the words “gangster” and “banker,” is a derogatory term applied to a banker or financial professional. The term has strongly negative connotations and originates in right-wing American politics. Others, however, have adopted the term and many different groups will likely use it, each with a somewhat different meaning.
The term was used in the 1930s and 1940s with two different meanings. The popular press has often affixed the “bankster” label to bankers deemed corrupt or greedy. The low esteem in which financial professionals found themselves after the crash and the onset of the Great Depression gave the press plenty of reason to attack them. The prevalence of organized crime during Prohibition likely played a role as well.
Members of the Austrian School of Economics were also fond of this term. Murray N. Rothbard used the word “bankster” as an insult against bankers and supporters of the US federal reserve system. Rothbard and many other members of the Austrian School argued that the Federal Reserve was something between a swindle and a conspiracy and that its proponents were both gangsters and bankers.
Some right-wingers with strongly anti-Semitic views have called bankers bankers. In these cases the term has a racial connotation that is missing in general usage on both the right and left. This use of the term persists, although it is limited to the political margins.
This versatile portmanteau word has continued to be popular. It is still often used by members of the political right in America, especially modern libertarians. Many libertarians have inherited Rothbard’s distrust of the Federal Reserve System and continue to call his supporters bankers.
Libertarians were also extremely unhappy with the performance of the financial bailout plans put in place to deal with the 2008 recession. They largely felt that even these plans were unethical. This has led to the use of the epithet “bankster” in describing the beneficiaries and architects of the bailouts.
In 2011, even the left continues to use this word as a label for greedy bankers or insiders who appear to profit from questionable means. They use the term more generally than what libertarian law tends to be. Members of the American left are as likely to apply it to Wall Street hedge fund managers, unscrupulous mortgage brokers, or corporate CEOs as they do to actual bankers. This type of bankster could also be a political attaché or appointee with questionable ties to the world of finance.
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