Similarly to last week, I was so floored by one article (blog entry, in reality) that I have to rehash it here. No, I'm not being lazy. But it is well-known to my readers that I'm not against biting the hand that once fed me, especially when that hand belongs to the Captains of Cash (which is a lot nicer than some other names you and I could have devised).
In the blog entry, it examined some of the statements made by these Titans of Treasure in light of the housing crisis and provided their total compensation (salary, bonus, options, and retirement benefits) as a means to see how beneficial it is to be someone who feels "it is better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission."
So how much does an apology cost? USD$2.3 billion dollars.
Yes, that's billion with a "b."
Ideally, I'd like to figure out the total years these gentlemen worked collectively as the heads of their respective institutions to determine a cost per year, but a) it's Monday morning, b) I'm lazy, and c) when you're looking at a total figure that large, the cost per year really doesn't matter.
In honor of these Generals of Gravy, my favorite job to have is no longer a meteorologist, where you can be wrong 75% of the time and still receive a 6 figure salary. It is now a CEO of a financial services institution where I can be wrong 50% of the time (or at least wrong when I'm telling the public about my firm's record-breaking profits..."If this is wrong I don't wanna be right!") and make an 8 figure salary.
One of these days, I'll tell you why I think it was wrong to repeal Glass-Steagall (if you don't already understand the history behind it and its implications), and why I am ecstatic over the efforts of Senator Blanche Lincoln and (gasp!) President Obama to impose huge restrictions on the sale of complex financial instruments. The huge irony here is that I consider myself to be more Republican than Democrat, but my political leanings are most definitely trumped by my fiscal attitude, which has been conservative for quite some time.
In the blog entry, it examined some of the statements made by these Titans of Treasure in light of the housing crisis and provided their total compensation (salary, bonus, options, and retirement benefits) as a means to see how beneficial it is to be someone who feels "it is better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission."
So how much does an apology cost? USD$2.3 billion dollars.
Yes, that's billion with a "b."
Ideally, I'd like to figure out the total years these gentlemen worked collectively as the heads of their respective institutions to determine a cost per year, but a) it's Monday morning, b) I'm lazy, and c) when you're looking at a total figure that large, the cost per year really doesn't matter.
In honor of these Generals of Gravy, my favorite job to have is no longer a meteorologist, where you can be wrong 75% of the time and still receive a 6 figure salary. It is now a CEO of a financial services institution where I can be wrong 50% of the time (or at least wrong when I'm telling the public about my firm's record-breaking profits..."If this is wrong I don't wanna be right!") and make an 8 figure salary.
One of these days, I'll tell you why I think it was wrong to repeal Glass-Steagall (if you don't already understand the history behind it and its implications), and why I am ecstatic over the efforts of Senator Blanche Lincoln and (gasp!) President Obama to impose huge restrictions on the sale of complex financial instruments. The huge irony here is that I consider myself to be more Republican than Democrat, but my political leanings are most definitely trumped by my fiscal attitude, which has been conservative for quite some time.