Banksters (to use the Baby Blue Cherub's useful term) have ruined the real economy, seriously warped our national priorities, and got the rest of us to pay for their mistakes through a combination of whinging and bribery as well as getting what looks to be a free pass for substantial malfeasance, if not outright criminal conduct. And if we don't stop criticizing them and trying to tax them or limit their compensation, they'll quit and go elsewhere-- Barney Frank sarcastically suggests they try the motion picture industry for similarly inflated salaries go already . We propose calling their bluff with the ultimate outsourcing gambit.
Legends In Their Own Minds
Some banksters appear to do very little for huge amounts of compensation, e.g. Harold Ford . Certainly they have a strongly-developed sense of entitlement, feeling themselves hard-done by if they have to scrape along on a measly $2M a year. John Thain's ego required a bathroom remodel costing more than my mother's house. Goldman Sachs honchos apparently believe that they're doing "God's work" or that Jesus has reversed his previous position on moneychangers Mammon . No matter how badly they perform, banksters fail upward, and bad CEOs take enormous payoffs for destroying their companies.
Reality Bites
British researchers have found that bankers (and tax accountants) actually destroy wealth hospital cleaners rule, bankers drool . A London Evening Times columnist's annual competition for picking stocks once again finds the office cat winning over the professionals Office Cat Wins.
In Conclusion
Human financial professionals destroy wealth and are not even particularly successful at choosing investments unless they engage in deceptive practices Goldman Sachs et al. . Cats are better at pointing out investments with paw and snout, require very little in the way of compensation (how much smoked sturgeon and "World's Best Cat Litter" can a cat want?) and best of all, even if the cats had a bad day at the office, they're still warm, furry and lovable, which is more than can be said for Lloyd Blankfein or Robert Rubin.