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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John McCarthy who wrote (93538)	1/29/2009 10:55:50 PM
From: John McCarthy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116555

Claw Back The Bonuses The New York Times revealed this morning that Wall Street Paid out over $18.4 Billion in bonuses for last year's great work by their executives. That was the sixth-largest haul on record, according to a report released Wednesday by the New York State comptroller. While the payouts paled next to the riches of recent years, Wall Street workers still took home about as much as they did in 2004, when the Dow Jones industrial average was flying above 10,000, on its way to a record high. When asked why he authorized a huge bonus pool in the face of the firm's largest loss ever, newly booted Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain put forth the standard line. He defended the reported $4-billion bonus pool, saying that "if you don't pay your best people, you will destroy your franchise. Those best people can get jobs other places, they will leave." Excuse me, but where are they going to get jobs that pay $10 million a year? I don't think their rival firms are actually in a hiring mode. This is total malarkey. The Treasury Department should sue any firm that got TARP funds to claw back bonuses paid for last year. Of course the Rush Limbaugh bootlickers in the House will oppose this because Rush thinks this is class warfare. tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com