May 24, 2011
The justification that enormous pay packages is the only way to retain the best and brightest is completely bogus and rather attracts the enormously self-centered and arrogant of our society--but then again how bold does one have to be to gamble with other's money. The simple fact that federal agencies are soliciting ways of changing Executives pay practices leaves me all the more disenfranchised and quite fearful for the next economic collapse.
I suppose one place to start might be erecting a wall between the cozy relationship of the SEC and Wall Street. The revolving door between the two surely should be labeled with a caution sign warning of a conflict of interest. Then again Federal Agencies could also simply begin by investigating and prosecuting violations of current statutes. Some small bit of deterrent to insane behaviors would come from knowing law enforcement was not willing to simply turn their head any longer or could be counted on to impose fines so ridiculously un-fitting of the crime at hand Wall Street greed and outrageous pay practices were a major cause of the collapse. One way to change the incentives so they don’t collapse our economy again would be to delay the bonuses for three, five or more years. That way, we’ll know if the loans they made in year one remain good. In the bad days, bankers paid themselves on the volume of loans (mortgages) they generated, not on their quality.
Thank you for considering my comment,
Robert Brookshire