On Wall Street, the investment bankers who arrange mergers and public offerings are the first casualties of economic uncertainty. Coaxing wary corporate bosses to raise and spend capital is, unsurprisingly, much less fruitful than encouraging bullish ones. Mergers have stalled. Initial public offerings, including those of Klarna, a “buy now, pay later” lender, and StubHub, a ticket-resale website, have been postponed. Bankers say they are “cautiously optimistic”, which is what business-school graduates mumble when they fear for their jobs.