There's been a lot of talk around compensation since the AIG bonus news materialized early last week. Here are my feelings:
1. In the pseudo free market that existed pre Bear I was all for people in any industry being paid as much as they could contractually get. If the UAW got Ford to agree to $70 per hour for their line workers and the Ford board and executives agreed to it then fine. If AIG traders got the board to agree to $2M bonuses regardless of how piss poor of a job they did at trading then fine, no skin of my back.
2. In a post Bear market where the govt has had to subsidize and prop up what would otherwise be bankrupt and broke companies then the govt has the right to decide how executives are paid and who and who does not get bonuses.
If your firm is solvent and hasn't taken govt money then please continue, the govt has no right to dictate compensation terms. However, if you have taken govt money, even out of compliance (I'm looking at you GS, WFC and JPM) then you are subject to the whims of whatever grandstanding republican or democratic congressperson has a mike in their face at the moment. Sorry.
