90 per cent tax on bail-out bonuses

[Solly]

"90 per cent tax on bail-out bonuses"

"Swept up by a wave of populist economic anger, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted on Thursday to slap a 90 per cent tax on bonuses at bailed-out firms like insurer AIG."

http://business.smh.com.au/business/90-per-cent-tax-on-bailout-bonuses-20090320-93kt.html

 

[numbercruncher]

Excellent.

A prison term would also be fitting - I mean if you or I robbed someone we would go to prison, yet these guys can rob thousands of shareholders in one hit with apparent impunity.

 

[Trevor_S]

I mean if you or I robbed someone we would go to prison, yet these guys can rob thousands of shareholders in one hit with apparent impunity.

You talking about the Government or AIG ?

I think it the height of hypocrisy for any Government to criticise any business for largess. Government is the ultimate example of fiscal irresponsibility, they can piss money away better then any private business can. With AIG, as with lots of large business, their payments to some executive employees is to my mind unjustifiable... but I am guessing, to someone working a sweatshop in China, your wage is a display of disgusting excess as well.

I think the only law that should be enacted, one I have been agitating for some time is to ensure Shareholders have binding say in executive salaries, and executive wages are capped at a maximum of 10x the median of the company. Lots of pundits have been saying for years that executive salaries need reform, why is it that nothing is ever done until it's too late ?

The argument they need to pay high wages to retain the best and brightest is a furphy.