By John Frisby • Feb 1st, 2009 • Category: Economics, Editorial, Ethics

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/01/enough-business-excesses-are-disgraceful/

February 1, 2009

EDITORIAL

From the Roman slave rebellions, on to the English civil wars, the
American and French Revolutions, and on to the Russian Revolution and
anti-colonial rebellions, people who have had enough of excesses,
greed, and oppression took action into their own hands. We can only
hope that American shareholders and Congress do the same - with
effective but less violent results - in rising up against the excesses
and greed (and even a bit of oppression) exhibited by far too many
results-challenged corporate executives with their own salaries,
bonuses, and golden parachutes. Some corporate bigwigs who have
incurred barrels of red ink on their books, and in some cases pleaded
for taxpayer bailouts, are hauling off many millions of dollars in
bonuses or severances.

Take Wall Street (please). Despite managing to rack up more than $35
billion in losses at their brokerage units alone, helping to throw the
economy into crisis, managers at Wall Street financial companies
collected an estimated $18.4 billion in bonuses for 2008, the
sixth-largest haul on record, according to the New York State
comptroller. The figure excludes stock-option awards that could make
the figure even higher. Why should failing financial firms that have
accepted government bailout money pay any bonus at all? The lame excuse
that bonuses help retain “good” employees is fatuous. Tens of thousands
of presumably innocent, hardworking financial employees were thrown out
of work on these “good” managers’ watch; the reward for “good” managers
of distressed companies should be keeping their jobs. They’re unlikely
to be snatched away to another job in this shrinking job market.

Many corporate executives outside the financial industry also
enjoyed fat bonuses in 2008, even as the U.S. economy shed 2.6 million
jobs. Equilar, the compensation research firm, found that the average
performance-based bonuses for top executives, other than CEOs, at 132
companies with revenues above $1 billion increased by 14 percent, to
$265,594, last fiscal year.

President Obama was totally justified late last week in branding
this conduct “the height of irresponsibility. It’s shameful.” He
correctly noted that “there will be a time for them to make...

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