Friday, November 30, 2007

Why Wall Street CEOs Earn Multimillion $ Salaries!

It should be a reasonable assumption that no single individual can bring the same value as what can be produced by 10,000 other people. This can be supported by the fact the great pyramids, the great wall and other truly major accomplishments were made by people who would have a hard time finding a dishwasher’s position here in the US today. So what makes some institutional investors believe that one man is worth more than 10,000, and in some cases 100,000, employees?

This week the FED has reiterated numerous times that it intends to bailout financial institutions with a move much stronger than the economically disastrous move it made it August. They ingenuously stated that the August move did not resolve the problem. It is comforting that our government employs individuals so astute. The new, and improved, bailout will be sold to the public as saving the poor homeowner.

This bailout will do the same as the last. The dollar will fall, inflation will exponentially explode, and the stock market, after a brief rally will tank again. All of this will occur and homeowners will still have the same problems as today. They will lose their homes. The banks rally on these proposed plans because the government will keep them from losing money on the foreclosures. Creating excess liquidity and low interest rates will create a new bubble in some other smoke and mirrors sector like Internet or Housing.

The FED knows it cannot fix the excesses created by institutional speculators who throw caution to the wind while playing the subprime roulette. The members of the FED have said as much. So why are members of the FED willing to throw away distinguished careers to be remembered in history as facilitators of the greatest depression in the US economy. A depression of this magnitude would most likely creep into the rest of the world and could trigger a deflationary period similar to the Dark Ages.

This is where the Wall Street CEO makes his pay. Only the best are employed in this activity. They must woo the regulator and convince the government that it is in the best interest of all that the interests of financial institutions are greater than the good of the country. He must engage his imagination and supply plausible mumbo jumbo talking points to make the pill edible. It takes a unique individual to play this role. Most Americans would puke their dinner every night as they consider the repercussions of their actions. Simply put, a normal human being could not live with himself. These superhuman CEOs are able to sleep at night knowing that while people are dying because we cannot afford health insurance, families are homeless and children have no hope for the future they will use public funds to enrich the coffers of financial institutions.

The result is simple. The losses from the speculative actions by financial institutions would cost the bottom line 1.5 trillion dollars. Through these gods of Wall Street the losses will be 1 or 2 billion. The 200 million dollar salary of the CEO is a cheap price to pay for the governmental bailout they can provide. Another example of Reaganomics at its best: A government of the corporations, by the corporations and for the corporations.



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2 Comments:

Blogger Lexcen said...

I think we live in a unique times where CEO's are paid an exorbitant amount of money. Eventually we must wake up to the insanity that prevails and restore reasonable remuneration to CEO's that is linked to performance of the company they control. How this will be achieved is beyond me.

1:55 AM  
Blogger Small Business USA said...

Lexcen I think we are living in exciting times (was using these same exact words at dinner last night). I feel we are on the brink of something exciting, a significant change brought on by something snapping.

We have made the enlightened part of "enlightened self interest" an evil action. Sooner or later economies break when the basic fundamentals are ignored.

I believe we are there in the US. The gunk permeates every major financial institution and the repercussions are far reaching into companies that would never be considered financial in nature.

4:39 AM  

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