From Robert Reich (Clinton's Secretary of Labor)blog:
The insurance [govt bailouts]these "too big to fail" banks are receiving makes them more like public utilities than private firms. As such, not only is it entirely appropriate for government to review their pay but also to make sure pay is kept within strict bounds -- not $100 million, not $10 million, not $7 million, but far, far less. As long as you and I are cushioning them, their top brass should be earning just about what the top brass of any public utility earns (which, when I last looked, ranged from $100,000 to $600,000).
The big banks have a choice, of course. They could opt out of the "too big to fail" system. They could break themselves apart (or invite antitrust agencies to do the breaking for them) so they were no longer too big to fail and won't be bailed out the next time they make hugely stupid mistakes. Then they could award their executives and traders as much money as they wanted and as the market would bear -- because then they'd be part of the free market instead of wards of the state.
Currently playing: Neil Young's Live at Massey Hall
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