Wall Street Bonus Redux

In case you missed it, Wall Street banks have announced that bonuses will be more this year than last year. And why not? After being bailed out by the federal government (aka, taxpayers) because they were on the verge of collapse and deemed too big to fail, the banks are now reporting record profits. With such a quick turnaround in the worst economy since the Great Depression, maybe the banks weren’t as close to collapse as the powers that be thought.

Not too long ago, Wall Street executives were being demonized for helping cause our Great Recession, in part becaue of the excessive compensation they were being paid. Were we wrong about that, too? Apparently. The banks are back on solid ground, and their executives are participating in bonus orgies that weren’t supposed to happen again.

Most employees and most employers live and work on Main Street. They are still feeling the harsh reality of a terrible economy. They can’t borrow. They can’t spend. They can’t hire or be hired. They’re stuck in a bonus-free zone. While it’s difficult to determine the worth of the work we do, no one argues against paying people what they’re worth. We might disagree about the worth of work, but fair pay is essential to the stability of our economy, particularly when it’s in the ditch.

Most Americans expect people on Wall Street to earn a lot of money. What’s aggravating is when the people on Wall Street thumb their noses as the people on Main Street. It’s as though they are emperors in a land divided by castes.