The most obvious factor driving this behavior seems to be the compensation system, which typically paid hefty bonuses when employees made profits but did not penalize them significantly when they incurred losses.
Or better, penalized for taking undue risk or for having low risk-adjusted returns. Should someone be rewarded for taking imprudent risk and getting lucky? Over the course of a career, one could make a lot of money as long as one of 10 risky bets pays off well for long enough time. Should that be allowed/encouraged?
