With occasional reflection on the perpetual absurdity/intrigue of life and society in general.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Absurdity of the Moment - #02


At The Height Of The Crisis, $1.6 Billion In 'Ill-Advised' Bonuses

by JACOB GOLDSTEIN

At the height of the financial crisis, there was a window of a few months after banks had received federal bailout money, and before they were subject to new rules restricting their pay practices.
During that window, 17 financial companies handed out $1.6 billion in compensation that was "ill-advised," Kenneth Feinberg, the federal official appointed to oversee pay at bailed-out firms, said this morning...
Here are the 17 firms that Feinberg says made ill-advised payments. Those that have not yet fully repaid taxpayer bailouts are listed in bold:
  • American Express
  • AIG
  • Bank of America
  • Boston Private Financial Holdings
  • Capital One
  • CIT
  • Citigroup
  • JPMorgan Chase
  • M&T Bank
  • Morgan Stanley
  • Regions Financial
  • SunTrust Banks
  • Bank of New York Mellon
  • Goldman Sachs
  • PNC Financial Services Group
  • U.S. Bancorp
  • Wells Fargo
Link to the entire article: NPR Reports

I feel like the utter and complete disregard of basic social (if not business) ethics is abundantly apparent, so no need to expound upon the evident injustice or my rising fury as i read each dribbling continuation of this absurd financial saga. Obviously, this is merely one more example in a long line that epitomizes the failures of our financial sector, and the major players, to have any semblance of basic human decency or expansive vision. This also perpetuates the rising tide of validated questions about the root paradigm of American Capitalism and contemporary deregulation. We reap what we sow.
Just wanted to play my part in the relevant information continuum in hopes that some may read this list and reconsider any further business transactions with these companies. They took money from the poor and paid gratuitous bonuses to the wealthiest - unforgivable, criminal.

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