2009 Wall Street bonuses: 1% of GDP!!!!

[inna]

Our total GDP for the nation is about $14 trillion. 2009 bonuses are around $140 billion. So, 1% of our total economic output for 2009 is going to the banking mafia's pockets. Not even the banks themselves - JUST THE BANKERS. Just amazing.

Major U.S. banks and securities firms are on pace to pay their employees about $140 billion this year -- a record high that shows compensation is rebounding despite regulatory scrutiny of Wall Street's pay culture.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125547830510183749.html

It has been reported that Wall Street bonuses will total some $145 billion. That's 1% of GDP - and is absolutely obscene.

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1893-Weeken...
(Read the whole piece, it's amazing. Gotta love Karl Denninger.)

Wall Street's Bonus Binge in Perspective



A relative handful of Americans, says a key congressional panel, will take home more this year than half the nation's taxpayers combined.

Americans worried about the ever-intensifying concentration of wealth at America’s economic summit have been focusing of late, quite understandably, on the latest annual round of Wall Street bank bonus awards.

But we now have even more reason to worry about our savagely unequal distribution of income and wealth — from researchers at the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. Earlier this month, that panel released income estimates for the coming year. They make for a sobering read.

In 2010, the tax panel calculates, a little over 1 million U.S. taxpayers will report incomes over $500,000. These 1 million top-earners will collect an astounding $241 billion more in income this year than the just under 80 million taxpayers who will take home less than $40,000.

(snip)

http://www.toomuchonline.org/tmweekly.html

[Cant trust em]

1. Gadzooks!

There's a word I need to use more often.

[dotymed]

63. Now, they can give

our politicians bonuses like that too.

[AlecBGreen]

73. wait wait wait

Major U.S. banks and securities firms are on pace to pay their employees about $140 billion this year -- a record high that shows compensation is rebounding despite regulatory scrutiny of Wall Street's pay culture.

I think this is misleading. I cant read behind the preview, but it sounds like this 140 billion is for ALL EMPLOYEES, not just bonuses for the fat cats.

[GinaMaria]

95. If true,

the bonus structure still works out to a lot of money to the fat cats. That's typically the way it is set up, either a percentage of profit or a percentage based on contribution to goals and the results of those goals. In the environments where I've been that give bonuses, it means associates get about half or more of the amount of 1 paycheck, administrative and clerical workers get less. The higher up you go, the bigger the bonus. Mahogany Row takes the biggest chunk.

[AlecBGreen]

97. no argument here

the sad thing is, many of these people who are getting bonuses are the same @$$holes who nearly ran the economy over a cliff! I say screw the bonuses, lock em up!

"The higher up you go, the bigger the bonus"

Its a sad truth, that the more important your job, the less you get paid. The world revolves around agriculture yet farmers in this country barely get by. Same with teachers. I often think of that bumper sticker that says "Itll be a good day when schools get all the money they need and the air force has to have a bake sale to buy a new bomber!"

[GinaMaria]

99. Agree.

Those that do the work received the least amount of money.

We really do have things backwards don't we?

[alstephenson]

And yet they add no value, produce no product.

Unbelievable.

[krispos42]

51. Until they went off the rails with all the exotic finance vehicles, they actually did do good things

They collected and concentrated capital so that credit would be available to people to make major purchases, and to companies to undergo expansion or to fund large projects.


But they just became totally unhinged after the S&L scandal. Major de-regulation combined with a flood of new investment dollars from the Reagan tax breaks and the complex financial vehicles from the S&L restructuring lead to the start of all this crap. The repeal of Glass-Stegal set the stage for critical collapse, and the Bush tax cuts drove a frenzy of investment.

[pundaint]

53. No, they really didn't do that, they manipulated numbers on a page, and

found reasons to reward managers other than effective management of their company. The put the American focus on short term reporting over long-term viability. They cynically suck the capital out of the American worker and used that combined economic power to undermine that worker, and turn him out into the street. They are leeches on the economic lifeblood of America, and they have gotten fatter than the host.

[krispos42]

78. Yup, that's how it turned out.

Bad business is usually far more profitable in the short term than good business.

[louis-t]

92. Any "profit" in the last year has been

from cost cutting measures, laying people off, outsourcing, cutting wages and benefits.

[unabelladonna]

67. nothing....

zero. they are parasitic pigs. i agree...bring on the pitchforks, these creatures are useless..... i want a list of names.

[Winterblues]

2. Beats the Hell out of my bonus, I took a ten percent pay cut

I want them to rub it in my face some more... Maybe Obama will tell us what a swell fellow Bernanke is and how well Geitner is running the Treasury.. Yippee my money just can't disappear fast enough...

[Initech]

6. I didn't even get a bonus last year, instead I got my hours cut.

Pitchforks and torches, I tell ya...

[Flatulo]

69. 10% pay cut??? You lucky bastard!!! I took a 50% cut and lost my health insurance.

[DisgustedInMN]

84. Just 50%?

J/K

"Then I met a man who had no legs..."

I can't even find ANY job...

[Flatulo]

86. Ya gotta keep your sense of humor about these things.

Reminds me of the scene in 'Life of Brian' when they sentence Brian to death and throw him in the cell with the guy who's been chained upside down to the wall for like 20 years... when Brian tells his cell mate he's getting crucified, the cell mate says.."Cricified??? You lucky bastard!!!"

[DisgustedInMN]

87. Uh huh...

... ain't it the truth!

[GinaMaria]

96. You lucky lucky bastard

What I wouldn't give to be spat at in the face. Bloody favoritism, that is.

[truedelphi]

3. And the Elite among the Enablers - how much was/will be their take?

Where will Geithner be five years from now? Will he be running a major outfit under the auspices of Goldman Sachs?

Where is Kashkari now, for that matter?

[KansDem]

4. I still have no idea why the bank and Wall Street bailouts were necessary.

[Lorien]

25. Read post #15

[slampoet]

5. HOLY FUCKNUDS !

Think of all the good that could have done instead of going to the least productive segment of our population.

[Wapsie B]

7. I can hear Ayn Rand's orgasms from the grave.

Good lord that is obscene. And it's not like they did something great for it. They FAILED and are still rewarded.

[Lorien]

20. They not only failed-they dragged many Americans over a cliff with their greed

they should be jailed, not rewarded.

[kenny blankenship]

8. I didn't realize just how AFFORDABLE a Great Depression could be - til now!

I thought for sure we'd have to pay a steeper commission than 1%. I thought we'd never have one. Thanks, Tim Geithner!!!

[Lorien]

9. Holy crap!

The New Gilded Age has topped the Old Gilded Age.

[inna]

16. Oh, absolutely.

Note that this chart ends at 2006, while income and wealth inequality has been rapidly INCREASING since then, including during the last year.

More in this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...


On edit: and even more here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[SlingBlade]

10. K & R Thanks

[notesdev]

11. This should convince any doubters

that misallocation of capital is a severe problem in the economy.

Now if only they could take the baby step to realizing that not allowing failed institutions to go bankrupt as they should is what enables this gross misallocation...

[Flaneur]

12. Eat the rich.

[aquart]

85. Couldn't we just grind them up for dog food?

I really don't want banker on my plate.

[amborin]

13. K&R thanks for posting this!

[annabanana]

14. disgusting. . . . n/t

[Cirque du So-What]

15. The bankers are getting nervous - and rightfully so

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

"As Goldman Sachs prepared to announce its fourth quarter earnings and employee compensation levels yesterday, the bank had bomb-sniffing dogs and police barricades on hand at its New York City headquarters, the New York Post reports.

The decision to boost security as its offices was apparently driven by growing fervor over the bank's huge profits and bonuses. Yesterday, the bank announced that it earned $13.4 billion for the year, and set aside $16 billion for employee compensation. Goldman was widely expected to set aside approximately $20 billion for employee pay, but CFO David Viniar suggested yesterday in a call with reporters that the bank wasn't blind to the "pain and suffering in the world" and "wasn't deaf to the calls for restraint."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/22/goldman-sachs-...

[Lorien]

24. Wait; they earned 13.4 billion, yet paid themselves 16 billion?

No wonder they came begging for taxpayer $$. They can't manage basic arithmetic and obviously expect socialism for the rich to continue.

[inna]

28. Un-fricking-believable.

I missed that part about earning 13.4 billion but paying themselves 16 billion in bonuses.

It's obscene to the point it's mind boggling.

It's open, in-your-face, upward redistribution of wealth, from struggling and hurting working people to the financial elites.

[Lasher]

61. I'm guessing the $16B was subtracted from corporate income, leaving $13.4 in earnings.

Wages is an expense that comes out before earnings are declared.

[Dappleganger]

40. Don't piss on the American people

and tell us it's raining.

[inna]

49. How about trickle down?

Ha, ha, funny. Not.

(But seriously, I think that's exactly what they had in mind with that whole economic "theory". )

[krispos42]

50. The absolute shamelessness is vomit-inducing.

Can nobody say "Hey, maybe we should cut back a little this year?"

[Hosnon]

70. Rage - they destroy our economy and take 1% of what's left.

Mr. President, I'm about to become a single-issue voter. Do something, now.

[MidwestTransplant]

91. I wonder if they paid for the extra police protection or if NYC did.

[JDPriestly]

17. Prince Alwaleed (who owns much of Fox News Corp.) thinks

this is just peachy and that banks should not be taxed.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_05/b416...

So I guess we should all bow before Fox News and be thankful that the banks made so much money this year.

[Bette Noir]

18. Unbefreakingleivable.

[Divine Discontent]

19. everyone who's lost their jobs, had their hours cut, or a pay decrease helped make this possible!

aren't those corporate swine such kind folk???

they need charged HIGH TAXES as I said in an OP a couple days ago that said if Obama wants his base to be energetic for the 2010 elections, they need to charge higher tax rates to the wealthy like in decades past!

[Lorien]

21. Amazing that Conservatives think that the 1950's was America's greatest decade

yet they fight tooth and nail against the very thing that made it a time that was good for (nearly) all Americans; a 90% tax on the rich.

[Divine Discontent]

26. it makes so much sense - over a certain amount of wealth you pay a very high tax

they're getting that money from the people, so it should be taxed to help properly care for their country and the people that make them rich. I could accept a $10 million a year rate that is taxed at whatever the current rate is, but above that, 75% of whatever else you make is taxed. So you make a billion taxable income in a year, you get 250 million. This wouldn't touch people with wealth already accumulated. And I agree with you, they love the 50's! Little do they understand why...

[Enthusiast]

55. I also find that curious.

Just another example of right wing hypocrisy.

[laughingliberal]

22. Just kinda warms your heart, don't it?

[Taitertots]

23. American wealth has become the upside down bell curve

The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and they cheer when this causes the mean income to rise.

[inna]

27. Too late to edit the OP - but note that this obscene amount of $145 billion

is not *combined compensation*, but it's just BONUSES alone, on TOP OF already ridiculously high salaries/stock options etc., and it only includes "23 top investment banks, hedge funds, asset managers and stock and commodities exchanges".

Note that combined budget gap for all 50 states in 2010 is $166 billion, it really helps to put things in perspective.

[Lorien]

32. Bring back the Eisenhower tax structure! nt

[inna]

36. What I'm thinking here is... Unprecedented cuts to social services and education...

Over a MILLION HOMELESS kids in public schools. Layoffs, furloughs, foreclosures, closed state parks, etc. etc.

Tens of millions uninsured and and even more underinsured, and tens of thousands actually DYING from not having access to health care.

Nearly 30% of Americans IN POVERTY: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

This is disaster capitalism in action, I'm afraid, my friends.

[David Zephyr]

29. K&R. And, it should be pointed out that GW Bush wasn't President in 2009.

K&R.

[jimlup]

30. And the whole "brightest and best" argument is a insult

[Enthusiast]

56. And it is also invalid. nt

[Jefferson23]

31. Such a disgrace, this is insane.

[babyblonde]

33. thats healthcare for the uninsured

for 1 year

[salguine]

34. Am I the only one who thinks it's way past time to

drag these fuckers out into the street and chop their fucking heads off?

[Enthusiast]

57. I'm sure millions share

your sentiments.

[OhioChick]

35. K&R n/t

[TexasObserver]

37. Recommend

[bullwinkle428]

38. Grotesque - no other word.

[Turbineguy]

39. The purpose of these organizations

is to match the money of investors with the needs of business. Basically, that's a draw. All new money goes into their pockets.

[20score]

41. You could buy both houses of congress and still have enough for, well... almost everything.

[Hannah Bell]

42. good catch - & yes, it's obscene.

[Initech]

43. Pitchforks and torches, people!

[gmoney]

44. This defines insanity

:facepalm:

:barf:

[w8liftinglady]

45. bookmarked for my next ltte.This is insane!

[progressoid]

46. k/r

[JoeyT]

47. See this is why

the smart money is in tar and feather commodities.
There's about to be a run on those markets.

[flyarm]

48. This Fed Chief Brought to You by Enron

This Fed Chief Brought to You by Enron

By: emptywheel Monday January 25, 2010 7:59 am

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/01/25/this-fed-c... /

Just wanted to throw two tidbits into the debate on Ben Bernanke’s reconfirmation. First, this quote, which needs no explanation.

In the event that Bernanke isn’t confirmed, several sources say, Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Donald Kohn likely would be elevated to acting chair of the U.S. central bank. Bernanke would be entitled to stay on the board until his term as a Fed governor expires in 2020, but the sources said Bernanke could instead return to a professorship at Princeton University.

Possible successors to Bernanke include three people currently advising Obama on the economy, former Fed chief Paul Volcker, Larry Summers and Christina Romer.

Kohn was traveling in Europe at the end of the week on Fed business, but strategy on the Bernanke confirmation was being led by former Enron lobbyist Linda Robertson, who is viewed as an effective advocate for the banking chief on Capitol Hill.

read the rest at the link



edit to add...



see the comments by :


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

JasonLeopold January 25th, 2010 at 10:40 am
15

Feb 22, 2001: Enron chairman Ken Lay and Enron lobbyist Linda Robertson met with energy task force executive director Andrew Lundquist to discuss energy policy.

April 17, 2001: Enron chairman Ken Lay and Enron lobbyist Linda Robertson met with Vice President Cheney for 30 minutes to discuss energy matters, including the California energy crisis.

April 20, 2001: Enron lobbyist Linda Robertson sent an e-mail to White House economic advisor Robert McNally.

May 23, 2001: White House economic advisor Robert McNally met with Enron lobbyists Linda Robertson and Richard Shapiro.

[Enthusiast]

58. Thanks, flyarm.

They stole from us because they could.

Remember, the supreme court decision on Dick Cheney's secret energy meetings? Scalia felt he did not need to recuse himself. He said he could render impartial judgment. Just like the unlimited campaign money I guess.

[Blue_Tires]

75. ugh... funny how these same colorful names from the past keep popping up

[defendandprotect]

52. But we can't afford single payer health care -- !!! PLEASE . ..!!!

[Enthusiast]

59. We can't afford ANY

health care reform. Not so you would recognize it as reform that is.

[democracy1st]

54. K & R

[Jakes Progress]

60. This could be the tipping point.

This is something even the brain-dead idiots who vote republicans can understand. They are being robbed. This level of greed is what starts revolutions.

I know they have MSM and congress, but if we ever had a chance to push back, it will be the numbers here that could do it.

Does our president have the guts to do it, or is he pocketed? We'll follow, but he has the pulpit we gave him when he asked for it.

[Hosnon]

71. I agree. I've never wanted retribution this bad for something not involving human life. nt.

[tencats]

62. K&R n/t

.

[blindpig]

64. k&r

Such are the benefits of 'ownership'.

[donco6]

65. Too Big to Fail!

We don't want our economy to go down the crapper, do we? Think of all the luxury yacht sales that will not occur if we take away these bonuses.

[sulphurdunn]

66. So then, if a few thousand people entitle themselves

to 1% of GDP just for bonuses this year (I wonder what their total compensation package amounts to) then why not reward themselves 2% next year or 3% or more?

[raccoon]

68. That's disgusting. Rec'd. nt

[TomClash]

72. It's worse than that

The bonuses are mostly restricted stock options, so the firms don't lay the money out. That means the Federal Government and the States don't get the personal income tax proceeds they would normally receive until the bonus recipient cashes out of the stock.

[PA Democrat]

74. And they are rapidly moving income offshore to avoid paying taxes.

In 2008:

$ 2.3 Billion Profit
$ 4.9 Billion Bonuses
$ 14 Million Taxes (worldwide, not just US taxes)
$10 Billion US Taxpayer Bailout

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=a6b...
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/01/07/23425.htm

[uponit7771]

76. What The Fuck?!?!!

[ChickMagic]

77. I was just at the nursery Sunday and saw pitchforks

I should have bought one. I need one. Badly. Suddenly.

[RoccoR5955]

79. WTF is a bonus?

Having been a civil slave, I mean servant for the past 20 years, I have no bonus!

These bankers should have a negative bonus.

[upi402]

80. oh... emm... gee...

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[earth mom]

81. Banksters = Gangsters = Criminals. Simple as that.

[slipslidingaway]

82. knr - also repost of your note in reply #27 ...

"Too late to edit the OP - but note that this obscene amount of $145 billion

is not *combined compensation*, but it's just BONUSES alone, on TOP OF already ridiculously high salaries/stock options etc., and it only includes "23 top investment banks, hedge funds, asset managers and stock and commodities exchanges".

Note that combined budget gap for all 50 states in 2010 is $166 billion, it really helps to put things in perspective."

[DisgustedInMN]

83. K & R

[no limit]

88. This total seems to include all emplyees though. So kind of misleading

I certainly don't have any beef with the lady at the counter of Bank of America. Yet she is included in that 1% it seems.

[paparush]

89. Surely the shareholders are sh*tting bricks??

I mean, yes, to us, the common folk, this is outrageous. Unpardonable.

But, if I were a stockholder and gross revenue was ~$30B, and the bank is declaring ~$13B in net and ~$16B in BONUSES, I'd be chewing some serious ass! I mean, c'mon!

These guys, the top level banksters, MUST have a sense that the days of free-wheeling, free-stealing are coming to an end? Right?

[inna]

90. Critical and usually overlooked point - the real size of bailout is 14 TRILLION!!

Behind The Real Size of the Bailout

A guide to the abbreviations, acronyms, and obscure programs that make up the $14 trillion federal bailout of Wall Street

http://motherjones.com/politics/2009/12/behind-real-siz...
Mon Dec. 21, 2009 12:23 PM PST

The price tag for the Wall Street bailout is often put at $700 billion—the size of the Troubled Assets Relief Program. But TARP is just the best known program in an array of more than 30 overseen by Treasury Department and Federal Reserve that have paid out or put aside money to bail out financial firms and inject money into the markets. To get a sense of the size of the real $14 trillion bailout, see our chart here. Below, a guide to the pieces of the puzzle:

Treasury Department bailout programs

Money Market Mutual Fund: In September 2008, the Treasury announced that it would insure the holdings of publicly offered money market mutual funds. According to the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), these guarantees could have potentially cost the federal government more than $3 trillion .

Public-Private Investment Fund: This joint Treasury-Federal Reserve program bought toxic assets from banks and brokerages—as much as $5 billion of assets per firm. According to SIGTARP, the government's potential exposure from the PPIF is between $500 million and $1 trillion .

TARP: As part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Treasury has made loans to or investments more than 750 banks and financial institutions. $650 billion has been paid out (not including HAMP; see below). As of December 21, 2009, $117.5 billion of that has been repaid.

~snip~

much more at: http://motherjones.com/politics/2009/12/behind-real-siz...

and http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/01/real-size-bailo...

[TheKentuckian]

93. The coolest thing is that the bonus money is enough to actually have kept

the folks in their homes. Neat huh?

[closeupready]

94. That is the most infuriating part of this, for me.

n/t

[amborin]

98. this is so obscene! let's tax those bonuses w/ a windfall profits tax, for starters n/t

[branders seine]

100. Gawd bless Tim Geithner and Larry Summers and Ben Bernanke

and our brave Prezdint for allowing this to happen.

[amborin]

101. they're back at it! marketing CDSs:

"Wall Street is marketing derivatives last seen before credit markets froze in 2007 as the record bond rally prompts investors to take more risks to boost returns.

Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley are encouraging clients to buy swaps that pay higher yields for speculating on the extent of losses in corporate defaults. Trading in credit- default swap indexes rose in the fourth quarter for the first time since 2008, according to Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. Federal Reserve data show leverage, or borrowed money, is rising in capital markets.

Investors who retreated to the safety of government debt during the financial crisis are returning to the simplest forms of so-called synthetic collateralized debt obligations after last year's record 57.5 percent rally in junk bonds left money managers with fewer options. While President Barack Obama's adviser Paul Volcker has blamed credit swaps and CDOs for taking the financial system "to the brink of disaster," bankers say the instruments help companies raise capital..."

http://www.openleft.com/showQuickHit.do?quickHitId=1309...

[Blue_Tires]

102. kick

[ck4829]

103. And they won't be happy until they have a plurality of the GDP