a couple of left wing bloggers have beeen going incadescent with fury over a report from the independant.
a number of british banks have needed to be bailed out with governement money. the government have asked that the "bonus culture" of the banks be curtailed.
the bankers have responded by saying that if they can't get the bonuses, then their flat salaries will need to be doubled, or even tripled.
there was also the news that the inital u.s. bailout of banks was spent on providing bonuses to their staff.
just because they caused the recession, doesn't mean they should suffer from it.
on the other hand, the message to me from my funder is to not expect any pay rise any time soon and the funding for day to day expenses (in terms of staff and training) "will not increase in your lifetime."
i think that if bankers need to be bailed out, there should be an expectation that their income reduces. the arguement they make is that without the high pay and large bonuses, they won't get the people to do the job. market forces.
well, at the moment, governements are the only people willing to invest in tehir busienss. and as such, gthey have the right to dictate pay rates. if the bankers disagree, they are welcome tto turn down the money and try to attract other investors, or put themselves on the open market and see if anyone else is willing to pay them what they think they are worth.
"hi. I was the ceo of a large company that lost 48 billion dollars last year. if you employ me, i will require a total pay package of $10,000,000 per year, full use of the company jet and my own mansion"
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This has been big news over here and the Independent only hits the tip of the iceberg. Recent stories have suggested that we are in for a 'summer of rage' - people considerably worse off in recession will become more violent, more beligerant as they take to the streets in anger. I'm not convinced. Sure, the bonus payments are a poke in the eye but witnessing the muted indignation of 'customers' paying £3,000 a year for the joy of sardine-like transport in overcrowded trains on my trip to London last week makes me realise how passively the British public accept marketisation of public services. As I remarked last week to the guy in the train next to me "If this was France, the passengers would have ripped the seats out and set fire to the carriages in protest by now".
ReplyDeleteMy own reaction to all of this is simply one of bemusement. After all, who'd have thought that a system based on self interest would have dire consequences for society as a whole?
especially if you've done the "right thing" by saving, rather than spending
ReplyDeletewith the interest rates reducing, i'm getting screwed
especially if you've done the "right thing" by saving, rather than spending.
with the low interest rates, i'm getting screwed