Comments on: US Banks Lag Europe in Executive-Bonus Cuts

By: joebhed

joebhed — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:41:42 +0000

My God, Elizabeth, be careful.
On these pages we are supposed to defend not only capitalism itself, but, you know, American capitalism.
So, to be getting all skweegee about those snobby Europeans who really do not understand our rugged, competitive business style is getting close to blasphemy.
I mean, ain’t they socialists over there?

The story is laid out in regard to taxpayer bailouts of banks, or more directly, bankers.
And THAT right there is getting close enough to socialism for a lot of us.
You lay out the difference in CEO pay and bonuses and the next thing you know somebody will be questioning dividends.
I’m sorry to point out, Elizabeth, that the real difference between the approaches across the pond are much more grand and much more striking.
Take for instance the right of the taxpayers to demand ANYTHING.
The way it worked in Europe is that the bankers did not get any government guarantee at all, let alone a real loan, without giving up whatever the government says is needed to make the public investment worthwhile.
You know soundness and security from the taxpayers’ perspective.
Over here we can ONLY even talk about ANY type of give-back by the American bankers in regard to the $700 BILLION Treasury position.
The FED’s $3 TRILLION contribution to the hoarding American banks is not subject to any rule or regulation that the government may want to impart for security and soundness purposes. CEO pay or public equity or dividends.
The FED’s magic-carpet is made up of one hand that feeds the bankers and one hand that picks the taxpayers’ pockets.
As one taxpayer, I am glad to know that you care.

By: jinrui

jinrui — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:47:43 +0000

The funniest part is while the wall street got bailed out and still got bonus. If they can afford to pay bonus with their own money, I don’t have any question. But this is tax payers’ money. And things are even better: Bank of America, who bought Merrill Lynch, will give retention bonus to Merrill Lynch’s employee who decided to stay at the merged company. And B of A is also a company received 25 billion tax payer’s money. Isn’t that a kind of corruption? To get the bail-out, they even don’t need to show turnaround business plan?

By: Charles Shepherd

Charles Shepherd — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:02:53 +0000

I guess I’m confused. I only received a bonus when my Company is in the “black”. I guess the Financial Community does not operate under the same principle.

This quote by the illustrious Homer Simpson sums up the what the Executives and the Politicians are doing…

Homer: “If you really want something in this life, you have to work for it –Now quiet, they’re about to announce the lottery numbers!”

It appears we are just buying lottery tickets off Wall Street with the hopes of a pay-back.

Charles Shepherd
Summerville, SC

By: Lindon Endsley

Lindon Endsley — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:55:50 +0000

I am a very conservative person BUT when I person is not the owner/founder of a company there ia no way his compensation should reach into 10s of million dollars. As these recent developments in the economy show these guys aren’t a heck of a lot better at their job than the guy at my credit union who has made me money over the last 14 months.
When a person can lose billions of my (the small investors) money and then make a bonus of 20 to 100 million there is something seriously wrong with the system. As a owner of a small business I believe that executive compensation should be tied to the profit that executive makes for his shareholders. Boards of directors, normally primarially composed of other high paid executives, should not be the primary arbitor of exectutive pay, shareholders should do that job. No one who is not a primary owner of a company deserves to make more than a couple million dollars salary and more than the percentage of increase in profit above his salary. We have developed a new feudalism with regard to money and these high paid executies are the new lords.