NYTimes columnist/economist Paul Krugman, in his worthy piece today about skyrocketing salaries (yes, again) at the disgraced investment banks:
“One can argue that it’s necessary to rescue Wall Street to protect the economy as a whole — and in fact I agree. But given all that taxpayer money on the line, financial firms should be acting like public utilities, not returning to the practices and paychecks of 2007.”
The big banks, says Krugman, are raising exec salaries for one reason — because they can.
He concludes that these greedy bastards need to be regulated, Mr. President, not left to their own devices.
Krugman: “Paying vast sums to wheeler-dealers isn’t just outrageous; it’s dangerous. Why, after all, did bankers take such huge risks? Because success — or even the temporary appearance of success — offered such gigantic rewards: even executives who blew up their companies could and did walk away with hundreds of millions. Now we’re seeing similar rewards offered to people who can play their risky games with federal backing.”