It seems he made a general statement about public companies then made his case by focusing on a specific industry. Banking has been especially dishonest lately but have private banking companies been less dishonest? I think the pressures to be dishonest are there regardless of whether you manage a private or a public company.
There had been a trend, haven’t seen anything about this lately, of moving public companies private. In fact I read stories 10 years or so ago warning about a coming shortage of public company stock.
I personally have worked at both public and private companies and I highly prefer privates.
Maybe I'm wrong about this, but I think Lewis' point was that what sets banking apart from almost every other industry in this country when it comes to public vs. private is that there is a much stronger link between government and banking than in other industries . . . hence the fact that the opportunity to rip off taxpayers is that much greater.
P.S. If you want a perfect example of a public company going private, look no further than Warren Buffett’s acquisition of one of the nation’s largest railroads — the Burlington Northern Santa Fe.