Wall Street Bonuses - Each One According To His Greed

Really! I have to say that I know people who work on Wall Street and realize how important their bonuses are in terms of their compensation. Wall Steet bankers chose to get the hell beat out of them daily on the hope that at the end of the year they will walk away with two times, or more, their base salary. Most, but not all, Wallstreet bankers are mentally sharp and driven by success. They have a will that seems to defy logic and they keep going when there is nothing left to go on. The question is whether these hard working folks deserve their anticipated bonuses . . . out of money that you and I as tax payers have unwillingly donated as part of a government bail-out.

This question is symptomatic of a larger issue, which is the promise of big bonuses. There is no question that greed and risky investments caused this mess. I have not heard one statement, let alone argument, to the contrary. Is it possible that continuing to feed these bonuses will continue to ecourage the "creative" thinking that drove us into this crisis? It is the endeavor of a big payday that inspires a stampede towards the possibility of personal gain. But, if you look really close most members of the stampede are moving as part of the herd, with no real reason or understanding as to the purpose of the frenzy. All these firms moved in the direction of a green light, one right after the other, and the leadership had no clue as to how these exotic finance vehicles worked. Should such stupidity be rewarded? Each one according to his/her greed?

If the argument is that the injection of bail-out money changed the position of the balance sheet and artificially proped up the income-statement, then the bonus metric should disregard any assistance by the federal government and the taxpayers.

I feel deeply for the ambitious folks who sacrifice the better part of their personal lives to their fulltime occupation. I get that the food chain in NY, and other financial districts, thrives on the Wall Street and banking machine. But on this one, I gotta side with the taxpayers. Accountability starts somewhere. And while I am not the ultimate decision maker in my firm, I assure you that when bad decisions are made I feel it in my bonus, or lack thereof.