Even at the best of times, nobody loves banks. There is a strong populist strain of anti-banking sentiment in the US (vividly demonstrated in Congress this week) and in the UK. Banks are especially unpopular in two circumstances: first, when they are very profitable; and second, when they are very unprofitable.

The British and American banking sectors (and in parts of continental Europe too) have achieved the unusual feat of swinging from one extreme to the other in very short order, so incurring criticism of both kinds almost simultaneously. That is quite an achievement.