Angry senator wants pay cap on Wall Street 'idiots'

[tree]

Re: Angry senator wants pay cap on Wall Street 'idiots'

It's just a gesture, a suggestion by the good senator.

Shareholders can shape corporate managers' salaries through a vote--IF allowed to vote on such matters by boards of directors. Or at least that is my understanding.

[stockman]

Re: Angry senator wants pay cap on Wall Street 'idiots'

Pay cap? Why should they have their salaries capped? They did all they could to maximize personal benefit while the music played. The risks to the company... to the country? Why should they be bothered with such concerns?

Pay cap? I think they deserve so much more.



Public Hanging Kabul.jpg



Or would a bullet be more civil?



Public execution China.jpg
"A condemned man is paraded before thousands who turn up to watch as he and a dozen others are executed with a bullet to the head."


How do we restore confidence? A good start would be rounding up all the reponsible parties and giving them what they really deserve.

[GRG55]

Re: Angry senator wants pay cap on Wall Street 'idiots'

this is political theater at it's finest. Obama and company feigning outrage. On the other hand, Senator Corker's statement about bank seizures tells me the Republicans are probably feigning outrage over the stimulus bill and will allow the bad bank plan to go through.

No doubt the vast majority of people working in the global banking system are decent, hard working and conscientious. But as an outside observor it's difficult not to sense that in upper echelons of the FIRE economy...the Boardrooms and executive suites...there has developed, over the FIRE decades, a conviction that the inhabitants have unique and extraordinary talents and insights, and consequently they truly deserve to be very, very rich.

I remain convinced that these beliefs, compounded by what Galbraith called "a pervasive sense of confidence and optimism" led directly to the speculations they conducted on such a breathtaking scale that they willingly put their storied companies, and their entire industry, at risk.

[stockman]

Re: Angry senator wants pay cap on Wall Street 'idiots'

No doubt the vast majority of people working in the global banking system are decent, hard working and conscientious. But as an outside observor it's difficult not to sense that in upper echelons of the FIRE economy...the Boardrooms and executive suites...there has developed, over the FIRE decades, a conviction that the inhabitants have unique and extraordinary talents and insights, and consequently they truly deserve to be very, very rich.

I remain convinced that these beliefs, supplemented by what Galbraith calls "a pervasive sense of confidence and optimism" led directly to the speculations they conducted on such a breathtaking scale that they willingly put their storied companies, and their entire industry, at risk.

Agree with you- they do truely believe that they are 'royalty'.

But lets not give them a pass and assume that this was an unexpected outcome- they knew fully that this was always an outside risk.

They knew about black swans long before Taleb started writing. They are bright well educated people. Unfortunately they are also aggressive seekers of fortune. They are in fact attracted to the Street due to the potential for achieving great personal wealth to start with- 'greed is good'.

But this went beyond being aggressive- they developed compensation plans that paid extraordinary amounts based on year-year peformance... knowing that odds heavily favored that short term reward. The fact that there would always be that fat tail risk is the reason their comp was set as it was. They could insure their own wealth- all the while risking 'their company', the financial system and the country itself. When the music stopped- they still have their money ;) and we can be sure safely hidden away both in and outside this country. The stock holders loose, the investors in the entire market loose, the tax payer looses... but they insured their own families fortune.

A 'willful betrayal of fidelity, confidence and trust of their country'...

And our sentence for this selfish act of treason is to discuss limiting their future salaries.

OK, I admit I am pissed off at these AHs.

Looting isn't new to financial firms- they just took it to the next level.

Looting 123108.jpg

[vanvaley1]

Re: Angry senator wants pay cap on Wall Street 'idiots'

No doubt the vast majority of people working in the global banking system are decent, hard working and conscientious. But as an outside observor it's difficult not to sense that in upper echelons of the FIRE economy...the Boardrooms and executive suites...there has developed, over the FIRE decades, a conviction that the inhabitants have unique and extraordinary talents and insights, and consequently they truly deserve to be very, very rich.

I remain convinced that these beliefs, compounded by what Galbraith called "a pervasive sense of confidence and optimism" led directly to the speculations they conducted on such a breathtaking scale that they willingly put their storied companies, and their entire industry, at risk.

Privateer:...a form of state supported piracy. I'm inclined to be a bit less forgiving of the 'gifted' when they assume the mantle of noblisse oblige and perform badly.

[GRG55]

Re: Angry senator wants pay cap on Wall Street 'idiots'

Privateer:...a form of state supported piracy. I'm inclined to be a bit less forgiving of the 'gifted' when they assume the mantle of noblisse oblige and perform badly.

Perhaps. But it makes the description no less accurate...far too many of them truly believe themselves to be in a class apart, in every respect. So apart that many apparently can't even make the link between their own behaviour and responsibilities, and the resulting outcome :eek: [see below].

I've been exposed to much smaller versions of this before, so it's not unfamiliar. Most notably with the latter stages of Enron's life and subsequent death, which I got to observe from a professionally close vantage point, as they took down the rest of the merchant energy industry with them.

Davos Delegates in ‘Denial’ as $25 Trillion of Wealth Vanishes

Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Regret is cheap for some delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Redemption for their role in the worst economic wreck since the Great Depression comes at a steeper cost.

“Nobody in Davos wants to get near a negative like redemption,” said Robert Dilenschneider, chief executive officer of the Dilenschneider Group, a public relations firm in New York. “But the truth is that everyone here is part of the problem, and the public will soon begin demanding a pound of flesh.”

“No banker or businessman wants to take responsibility,” said Dilenschneider, who counts 40 Davos delegates as clients, their identities shielded by confidentiality agreements. “It’s their view that everybody else did something wrong.” ...

...“There’s a ‘Great Gatsby’ quality to Davos,” said Niall Ferguson, a professor of history at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, referring to the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. “When people look back at this gilded age, I’m sure there will be images of the investment bank parties at Davos, just as people looked back at flappers after the 1920s. People are still in denial.”

Ferguson, author of “The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World,” and a first-time Davos delegate, said “There’s a sense of ‘let’s have the party anyway,’ and ‘let’s talk about the post-crisis world,’ as though that could be soon.” ...

...“There are six billion people on the face of the earth, and probably about five billion participated in what went on,” [Carlyle Group Managing Director David] Rubenstein said in an interview. “Everybody participated in some way or shape or form.” [that includes YOU Mega!!!!!]...

...“Bankers don’t want redemption for the moral wrongs they’ve committed against humanity,” said Niamatullah. “Redemption is a heavy word for Davos Man because remorse must come with sincerity and the desire to atone for the transgression. There are no sincere acts of sorrow in Davos.”...

[raja]

Re: Angry senator wants pay cap on Wall Street 'idiots'

OK, I admit I am pissed off at these AHs.

Looting isn't new to financial firms- they just took it to the next level.

In China they execute those who do harm to the People . . . for example, those adding toxic chemicals to milk to produce higher profits.

Perhaps this form of punishment is too extreme for those inflicting financial harm on the society, but at a minimum the Wall Street execs and banksters whose companies failed miserably should be immediately fired, banned from any future work in the field, and the profits they extracted should be repaid to help bailout their companies.

Instead, our government is let these losers stay in their jobs despite their incredible failures, and rewarding them with billions of dollars for which they do not have to account.

[vanvaley1]

Re: Angry senator wants pay cap on Wall Street 'idiots'

Perhaps. But it makes the description no less accurate...far too many of them truly believe themselves to be in a class apart, in every respect. So apart that many apparently can't even make the link between their own behaviour and responsibilities, and the resulting outcome :eek: [see below].

I've been exposed to much smaller versions of this before, so it's not unfamiliar. Most notably with the latter stages of Enron's life and subsequent death, which I got to observe from a professionally close vantage point, as they took down the rest of the merchant energy industry with them.

Davos Delegates in ‘Denial’ as $25 Trillion of Wealth Vanishes

Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Regret is cheap for some delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Redemption for their role in the worst economic wreck since the Great Depression comes at a steeper cost.

“Nobody in Davos wants to get near a negative like redemption,” said Robert Dilenschneider, chief executive officer of the Dilenschneider Group, a public relations firm in New York. “But the truth is that everyone here is part of the problem, and the public will soon begin demanding a pound of flesh.”

“No banker or businessman wants to take responsibility,” said Dilenschneider, who counts 40 Davos delegates as clients, their identities shielded by confidentiality agreements. “It’s their view that everybody else did something wrong.” ...

...“There’s a ‘Great Gatsby’ quality to Davos,” said Niall Ferguson, a professor of history at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, referring to the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. “When people look back at this gilded age, I’m sure there will be images of the investment bank parties at Davos, just as people looked back at flappers after the 1920s. People are still in denial.”

Ferguson, author of “The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World,” and a first-time Davos delegate, said “There’s a sense of ‘let’s have the party anyway,’ and ‘let’s talk about the post-crisis world,’ as though that could be soon.” ...

...“There are six billion people on the face of the earth, and probably about five billion participated in what went on,” [Carlyle Group Managing Director David] Rubenstein said in an interview. “Everybody participated in some way or shape or form.” [that includes YOU Mega!!!!!]...

...“Bankers don’t want redemption for the moral wrongs they’ve committed against humanity,” said Niamatullah. “Redemption is a heavy word for Davos Man because remorse must come with sincerity and the desire to atone for the transgression. There are no sincere acts of sorrow in Davos.”...

"There are no sincere acts of sorrow in Davos." I like that sentence. Says so much with so few words...something I appreciate at this age when I can barely remember the first word of a thread. So much for self-indulgence.

I've always wondered how many of the folks at the 'top' rungs of the ladder were sociopaths or somewhat inclined to that disposition. The lack of sincere sorrow must be partially imbeded in that voyage to the top. I too had a brief encounter with an individual who was 'well-off'. Had the insurance contract for the west coast for a product I'll not go into at the moment. Anyway he met somebody with a sizable pocketbook too. As they rattled off the various luxury hotels they stay in and about the world, etc...sniffing rear ends if ya would...the topic of personnel came up. One gentleman talked about the hiring of a 'unit' to do his employment. He discussed him as if he were a piece of meat or some other commodity to be owned and purchased by the amount of cash he deemed worthy to bestow upon him.

And while it's understandable how comfortably and easily that glove of commodity ownership slides on, it should just be worn for a moment or two and removed as quickly as possible before it becomes 'too comfortable'. Don't think 'sincere sorrow' is a major part of their thinking at that cold hideout...Davos: well, at least, towards those on the lower rungs of the ladder.

Before just punishment or banishment from the ladder's heights it would seem appropriate that part of the punishment include meeting face to face with folks (single mothers, widowed elderly, etc.) who had been hijacked into their present mortgage Armageddon by the kidnappers and allow the latter to do the loan processing, follow up, personal conveyence of rejection, explanation of how and why they were going through this experience, etc. with these folks and their families on a daily basis...say for twenty years or so. Maybe, just maybe, they'd begin to see them as something more than just a commodity.

And since I can't get my stoning or drawing and quartering voted in by the majority, perhaps we could send these convicted top rung cretins to overseas jails for incarceration. I understand Siberia and others have accommodating facilities. It might help the export trade, balance a bunch of books on various levels, and what the heck they're just units of commerce after all...aren't they?