Please read through my entire diary. I know it's really popular to bash banker on Daily Kos but not all who work in the finance industry are making millions of dollars. Please follow me below.
I am a consultant to the finance industry. Specifically I deal with the back end of finance. The people who settle trades, make sure that your portfolio is up to date, calculate performance etc. These are not multi million dollar jobs. In fact, they are middle class jobs. Average salaries are in the 40-60K. Yes, the 40-60K. The people who works these jobs work long hours. In some case, longer than Ibankers.
You could not have a financial statement from your 401K or Etrade account without these people. They get no recognition, nor do they get the big bonuses. However when a bank has a good year, they can get good bonuses. By good, I mean 20-40K bonuses. This may seem like a lot of money to you, but I remind you that Ibankers are getting millions.
In the UK (where I currently live), these jobs are open to anyone. And by anyone, I mean ANYONE. The US usually requires a college degree.
The UK bonus tax will affect these people. The banks will pay the 50% tax and then still pay outrageous bonuses to the the top half. It's the people who make the company run that will get shafted.
So yes, cheer on the UK and it's taxes. Just make sure you know who all will be affected by this. Sometimes it isn't who you think