Things You Never Knew...

I decry the extravagant bonuses paid to well heeled wall street executives as much as the next guy, and fell all self-righteous and indignant when reading about some of the excesses some of these banks go to. Surely we all feel the same way. How can these guys pay themselves so well when they were the chief architects of the greatest colossal screwup the world's economy has ever seen?

But I ask you one question. Take a step back, and step instead into their shoes (no pun intended). Imagine you're the chief executive officer of a prominent wall street bank. Or executive vice-president of an international insurance group. You graduated first in your class at undergrad level, then went on to do an MBA at a top tier business school. You have vast experience in the financial industry, and your pay has been at around market level, always receiving what your peers did. When the going was good and everything was bull (pun intended here) no one batted an eyelid at the lavish compensation packages you enjoyed, but now everything is bear suddenly you're the villan of the story. True, maybe some mistakes were made, but doesn't everyone have bad days at the office?

Wouldn't you feel the same sense of entitlement some of these executives are now feeling? What, I'm greedy beyond belief? Surely no more than the next guy! I'm incompetent? You gotta be kidding me!