February 10, 2009

On Wednesday, eight chief executives of big banks will make their way to Washington — giving up their private jets and instead riding Amtrak and the Delta Shuttle — to appear at a Congressional hearing in front of Representative Barney Frank and the House Financial Services Committee.

Lloyd C. Blankfein, Jamie Dimon, John J. Mack, Vikram S. Pandit and Kenneth D. Lewis will be among them.The hearing will no doubt be a spectacle. It is meant to explore what Mr. Frank, the chairman of the committee, described as Wall Street’s lack of accountability over how it is using funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.