Bailing out
A few thoughts on this AIG bonus junk:
- AIG should have made it clear at the beginning of the "these guys are taking $1 yearly salary" period what would happen money-wise and how much. And good for them if they did, which would mean it's bad for the govt (and no, I'm not going to pin the blame on a certain party or administration; they're ALL in cahoots in my view) that they were asleep at the wheel
- Those at AIG's Financial Products unit who took $1 for the year should've just taken the $1 and not received any compensation that could look like a bonus to the public (look what happened...)
- failure should not have been rewarded. This points to a more general failure in businesses; many others in trouble are still rewarding their executives for failing. (Hey, they make lower workers' bonuses conditional upon performance...)
- I have this feeling, which I've always had in incidents like this, that both sides are lying to me. Doesn't make me want to trust them. Which leads to...
- The financial markets are just a more formalized form of gambling. Bets are still made and stooges like me lose money. (If I'd bothered to trust those running the show, that is.)
And one more thing that should stand out on its own: those people who would ever think of harming another person in any way just because they happen to work for a company whose name is being dragged through the mud, well... they lack basic logic and reasoning skills, that's for sure. In small words, it's just plain stupid.
- AIG should have made it clear at the beginning of the "these guys are taking $1 yearly salary" period what would happen money-wise and how much. And good for them if they did, which would mean it's bad for the govt (and no, I'm not going to pin the blame on a certain party or administration; they're ALL in cahoots in my view) that they were asleep at the wheel
- Those at AIG's Financial Products unit who took $1 for the year should've just taken the $1 and not received any compensation that could look like a bonus to the public (look what happened...)
- failure should not have been rewarded. This points to a more general failure in businesses; many others in trouble are still rewarding their executives for failing. (Hey, they make lower workers' bonuses conditional upon performance...)
- I have this feeling, which I've always had in incidents like this, that both sides are lying to me. Doesn't make me want to trust them. Which leads to...
- The financial markets are just a more formalized form of gambling. Bets are still made and stooges like me lose money. (If I'd bothered to trust those running the show, that is.)
And one more thing that should stand out on its own: those people who would ever think of harming another person in any way just because they happen to work for a company whose name is being dragged through the mud, well... they lack basic logic and reasoning skills, that's for sure. In small words, it's just plain stupid.