payback time

Is anyone surprised that Goldman Sachs made another fortune? First the government bails them out and then they let them get away with business as usual. No regulation for bankers! A virtual slap on the wrist and some nice rhetoric from Obama was punishment enough for the financial tycoons.

That is what you get when you pay big money for election campaigns and inauguration ceremonies. In the meantime the country is suffering, people are losing their jobs, homes are being foreclosed, while the bankers are churning through whatever excess wealth is left to generate commissions and profits.

Expect another round of excessive bonuses. That is what bankers get when they bring in the goods. And as long as the regulators let them get away with it, they will succeed in bringing in more. This charade will only end when there is no more wealth to be shifted. Since the bankers do not produce anything, and since they don't even finance productive companies, the country will eventually run out of resources to pay their fees. But that will be someone else's problem. We have some "useful" time left before that happens.

What we are seeing is a new financial crisis in the making. But for now, that is something the bankers won't worry about too much. Now they will concentrate on how to spend their lavish bonuses. Why would anyone worry with a safety net like bankers have? The tax payers will foot the bills so Wall Street can extend the party for another couple of years.

greed

Leave it to the Wall Street Journal to find some morons with credentials who will sing the praises of greed, excessive bonuses, and unlimited pay. Or bemoan the country for "railing against the rich."

I have stated before that I don't have a problem with people pocketing ridiculous amounts of money -there is no way to stop them in any case, so why worry?- but I do have a serious problem when these individuals try to justify their bounty. Not only are these guys greedy, they also display hugely inflated egos and profoundly anti-social behavior. This is borderline psychopathic at best.

Arguments in favor of excessive compensation are totally bogus. Nobody in their right mind can claim that their efforts, insights, wit, or genius is worth three orders of magnitude in extra pay. Those who believe such things need to have their minds checked out. Face it, all these guys have going for them is that they happened to be in the right place at the right time. It may have taken them some maneuvering skill to get there,  but that is a far cry from the outrageous assertions they make.

Furthermore, recent events have shown that financial geniuses paying themselves millions not only do not create anything of value, they cause nothing but trouble. As one economics professor explained: they sell manure. Their great "contribution" to humanity was that they managed to temporarily convince everyone that it was rose-water.

At the very best financial wizards lubricate an unsustainable economy of waste and destruction. More often they just cause pain and hardship for everyone without producing anything of value in return.

There is a good reason why all religions think of greed as a sin. Greed is bad for humans. Not just for the greedy ones, it is bad for all of us. It lowers our chances of success as a species and it impacts our ability to survive.

Greed is like drug use gone wild. Some amount of selfishness is good and beneficial, much like an occasional glass of wine. But excessive consumption and addiction quickly becomes a threat not just to the well-being of the individual who engages in it, but also to those around them.

It is not just bad form for a prominent paper such as the Wall Street Journal to commend greed, it is reprehensible. Much like advocating addiction, or other destructive behaviors. Even they should know better.

american-style capitalism

It is often said that the American economic system is the best in the world. Then again, it is often said US healthcare is the best in the world too. And American cars, American TV, etc. Waving the flag is big business.

Every once in a while though, there are some hard data that tell a different story. Take Wall Street bankers and their $18 billion bonuses for 2008. Aren't bonuses supposed to reward good performance? Aren't bonuses there to "align" the executives with the interests of the business and its shareholders? Isn't this country supposed to be a meritocracy, where good work is rewarded? Wasn't America founded on hard work?

The sad truth is more than obvious. Those who are close to the honey pot get extra servings. Whether they work hard or not, whether they do what they are supposed to do or not, whether they perform as required or not. The pot is theirs and even when others have to go empty handed, the guardians of the honey pot reward themselves richly.

We can only draw one conclusion: American-style capitalism is about nothing but greed. Those who display it, get away with murder.

Kudos to Obama for speaking out and calling it shameful. Unfortunately it is worse than shameful. It is criminal. Criminal negligence that deserves more than harsh words. No amount of cosmetic surgery is going to fix this problem. What we need is some deep cuts to remove the rot. Where is the public outrage?

white shirt, designer suit and tie

The Wall Street Journal had an article on white shirts the other day. In it they quoted fine gentlemen extolling the virtues of such cloth. According to said gentlemen one can learn a lot about a man from the whiteness and thickness of their shirts. Or the designer labels on their suits and the fine silk of their ties. 

The next day, one reader remarked this was certainly true, but that the conclusion was decidedly false. The wearers of these fine shirts, suits and ties hail from places such as Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Madoff. What we can learn from these folks is that we should look past and through their finery, and keep our wits about us, lest we fall prey to their ignorance, grotesque egomania, deceit, and swindle.

Today Merrill announced a $15.3 billion loss for the most recent quarter. As one economist put it recently, these gentlemen took manure and convinced us it had turned into rose water. They then dispensed their concoction to the savvy and not-so-savvy alike. No doubt they were wearing their white shirts and fine ties to fully dissociate themselves from the color and stench of their product.