Government Has a Right to Remand Bonuses

Bond, stock and other Wall Street gamblers think of themselves as entrepreneurs. So there should be no surprise or expectation of a bonus when their companies lose money. As for the concern that you won't attract the best people without big and steady bonuses, I have heard that many times when I was emptying out a non-performing company.

Branch Rickey, the famous Brooklyn Dodgers general manager who changed the color of baseball by promoting Jackie Robinson to the Majors, later in his career served as the general manager of the then-lowly Pittsburgh Pirates. When Pirate Hall of Fame slugger Ralph Kiner asked for a raise, Rickey reminded him the Pirates finished last, even though Kiner hit 40-plus homers. You don't give your people bonuses when the company has a losing season.

Right now, Wall Street is like a ghost town in the old West. You can hear the ghosts of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Drexel Burnham Lambert, Kidder Peabody and other firms that have imploded over the past 25 years. There are managing directors who would be glad to get $100,000 a year with a shot a making a fraction of what they once made just to get a chance to play.

It's the law of supply and demand. There is much greater supply for experienced Wall Streeters than there are positions. As for the private equity and hedge funds that say they won't work for capped wages, they are bluffing. No business leader or investor minds paying for superior performance.