Useful term from biology for the lifestyle of parasitic creatures that live by stealing what other creatures have provided for themselves. It therefore provides an apt metaphor for many bankers, fund managers, and so forth. The human kleptoparasite typically maintains self-respect by claiming that his or her extraordinary merit needs rewarding, given the fierce competition for talent in financial centres. But in his profound analysis of the money market, the Victorian banker and editor of the Economist, Walter Bagehot, countered that ‘Any careful person who is experienced in figures, and has real sound sense, may easily make himself a good banker. The modes in which money can be safely lent by a banker are not many, and a clear-headed, quiet, industrious person may soon learn all that is necessary about them. Banking is a watchful, but not a laborious trade.’