Comments on: Parallel Bankers

By: The Baseline Scenario | EthicalMarkets.com

The Baseline Scenario | EthicalMarkets.com — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:23:23 +0000

[...] James Kwak Parallel Bankers Posted: 20 Mar 2009 03:20 AM [...]

By: Michael Crumpton

Michael Crumpton — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:58:06 +0000

It seems quite obvious to me that people that behaved incompetently/dishonorably in the past and have shown no remorse are likely to do it again, given the opportunity.

By: Lindsay Kellock

Lindsay Kellock — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:30:14 +0000

Matthew Iglesis as right: Dump thee foxes and replace with people armed with commonsense and financial savvy.

By: Lindsay Kellock

Lindsay Kellock — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:27:59 +0000

What the US and Canada dearly need is to develop, au plus tot, a fox guarding henhouse prohibition at every possible level, starting with AIG. Dump the foxes and replace with people armed with commonsense and financial savvy to recognize the overall hoax and all the micro-hoaxes as well, under the financial and monetary headings and across and down our institutions and so-called self regulating orgs.That would keep investigators and legislators sustainably employed.

By: Daphne Millar

Daphne Millar — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 12:07:51 +0000

Even if AIG have to pay the bonuses they should probably get rid of the people who caused the mess. That’s obviously sensible. You want someone with fresh eyes and no investment in pretending that what went before was sensible.
Which makes the decision to keep Tim Geithner in a central position all the more extraordinary.

By: CEO Semiotics And The Economics Of Vilification « The Baseline Scenario

CEO Semiotics And The Economics Of Vilification « The Baseline Scenario — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 10:44:39 +0000

[...] But, as the AIG discussion over the past week has made clear, much of the finance industry has not yet reached the point where they see this as essential. This is about good housekeeping, not [...]

By: Compensation 101 « Just Above Sunset

Compensation 101 « Just Above Sunset — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 06:19:04 +0000

[...] Still, the reason we are told these people got their bonuses in the first place does raise some question about who knows what about how and why you pay folks what you pay them. Simon Johnson doesn’t exactly buy the AIG line of thinking, which seems to be what Tim Geithner thinks too. Johnson puts it this way: [...]

By: Oh Great! Now What? » Blog Archive

Oh Great! Now What? » Blog Archive — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 02:55:24 +0000

[...] Mar20 20 March 2009, mudslide @ 6:55 pm Good to see others agree that retention of people who have created mess are better not retained: [...]

By: kals95

kals95 — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:05:48 +0000

CEO Liddy was put there by the Govt so its man is at the top.
A shareholder can’t ask for more than that without micromanaging.

By: alittlehopeinmyheart

alittlehopeinmyheart — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:05:20 +0000

Sheila Bair is one of the good bankers!

You can listen to her testimony and gleen that she is fully aware that what has occurred has been WRONG, but she has to be careful how she speaks for the fact that she is in the middle of BANKSTERS!!!

By: tomj

tomj — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:38:37 +0000

If 400 people could save or kill the world economy, shouldn’t we do more than just pay them a lot of money? It sounds like if something happened to any one of these guys, the whole thing could fall apart. Yet any one of them could get sick, or somehow be unable to continue their job. Does AIG have any plans for replacing personnel who cannot continue to do their job? If not, shouldn’t the government, as majority shareholder demand replacement employees get trained, and maybe spread around the country in case of some disaster?

By: anon

anon — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:53:19 +0000

re: “a generation take degrees in finance and head straight to Wall St.” – and Washington

50 Richest Members of Congress: http://www.rollcall.com/features/Guide-to-Congress_2008/guide/28506-1.html?type=printer_friendly

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:54:15 +0000

LET’S KEEP OUR EYES ON THE PRIZE!!

By: Bill Bradbrooke

Bill Bradbrooke — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:51:56 +0000

“For years we have seen a steady move towards short-term payoffs…”

Yes…a symptom of the same trend that saw the brightest minds of a generation take degrees in finance and head straight to Wall St. They added no value. Instead they bent their genius to perfecting the personal profit machine to which you refer.

One hopes that this is cyclical.

Today the river of profit has evaporated. Work at major financial institutions now involves containing loss, unwinding messes and answering to regulators. In this environment employment contracts that are front-end loaded yield little and so serve no purpose.

Furthermore, one hopes a different type of individual will take up the work, one who will accept a fair salary and the more traditional promise that if something of value is created over a period of time there will be a decent reward.

Finally, one hopes that bright kids going forward will forego “black box” math and return to studies in medicine, science or foreign affairs.

(If we move too quickly to shore up the system that brought us so much grief this, of course, won’t happen.)

By: DFitz

DFitz — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:20:24 +0000

Reprinted in my morning paper, from the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/18/AR2009031804104.html?hpid=topnews

Key points:
- the employees in question would have jumped ship last year without these bonuses being promised.
- the people who opened the CDS can of worms are long gone.
- so is the CDS book of business.
- if these bonusees are going to be slandered and threatened, they will leave en masse – and then who will run off AIG’s book ? It would be as MEAT for the remorseless trading community, which can smell blood in the water.
- their individual knowledge of the vulnerabilities of AIG’s book will be most welcome elsewhere.
—
Not in the article, but my two cent’s… C’mom, Congress, can’t you pay attention to the real issues here ? 165 million, is chicken feed – you can’t even get elected President with that kinda chump change. Poitical theater is often (as here) bad policy.