As the 2009 Christmas bonus season approaches on Wall Street, Goldman Sachs will once again lead the way by paying out billions of dollars worth of bonuses to it's employees. For years, people all over the world have marveled at the excessively high dollar amounts that are paid by Goldman Sachs to it's few employees. In 2009, Goldman Sachs is once again preparing to shatter previous Christmas bonus records, but this year all of those billions of dollars worth of bonuses are happening at the same time when most Americans are struggling just to make ends meet.
That begs the question, is Goldman Sachs setting itself up for even more government regulation - because of their bonus policy or is 2009 just another business as usual year on Wall Street when the people that have very little just want to blame the rich for all of their problems? I personally believe that Goldman Sachs is making a huge mistake in paying out even larger bonuses in 2009 than they did in 2008 or 2007. Sadly, many of the high paid money people on Wall Street either work at or have previously been employed by Goldman Sachs - so their judgment should most certainly be drawn into question, when it comes to huge bonuses as the recession of 2009 continues to lead to more and more job layoffs.
Not long ago, the current CEO of Goldman Sachs was interviewed and rather than trying to soft sell the high amount his company has set aside for Christmas bonuses in 2009, he instead defended them in what I believe was a wrong headed way. While I have always believed that if we do not learn from history we are destined to repeat it – the big money guys and gals on Wall Street and at companies like Goldman Sachs seem to be tone deaf when it comes to understanding what most people are going through financially. As Goldman Sachs prepares to pay out billions of dollars in bonuses in 2009, they are doing so in a political climate that could cause that Wall Street bank to face addition regulation and oversight by the U.S. government in the years to come.
In many ways, Goldman Sachs reminds me of a rich company that only has one purpose and that is to help other rich people stay that way. I doubt if the powers that be at Goldman Sachs even realize that their big Christmas bonuses, set to be paid at the end of 2009, could likely doom their future prosperity - because of it's perception of greed. The United States people and the government that represents us is constantly changing and what that means to me is that old business as usual practice by Goldman Sachs of paying billions of dollars worth of Christmas bonuses might soon be outlawed by a Congress that will be pressured by regular hard working Americans to do something - as Goldman Sachs continues to earn billions of dollars, while their own dreams of financial success fade away.
Friday, November 13, 2009
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1 comments:
I see what you mean and definitely think something has to change, but I don't think the government should dictate how much companies can pay their people. If they still owe TARP money then they should be able to, because that was a stipulation for getting a government bailout, but if they don't then the government shouldn't be able to cap it. That being said, if we had tighter government control on how these banks can make money so it was done in a safer/more responsible way then I'd fully support that, and I think in the long run the bankers would too. They are going to maximize their profits given whatever rules they have to play by, and while they'd prefer it be easier to make money, if it's harder they'll still figure it out. They are going to do whatever they legally can do, so the government has to get much more strict about what's legal.
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