Adverb of the day
February 2nd, 2009
From Joe Klein’s excellent evisceration of Karl Rove’s shill, Pete Wehner:
It’s also diabetically rich for Wehner to be accusing anyone of being a cheerleader…
Why didn’t economic rules apply in finance?
February 2nd, 2009
Further to my two-cents — and everyone else’s — on outrageous finance industry compensation, Kevin Drum asks an interesting question:
As for the financial industry, the long-term answer to their absurd pay packages is to figure out why the finance industry is so profitable. It shouldn’t be. Especially now, it should be a cutthroat business with tiny margins, vanishing arbitrage opportunities, and competition ready to underbid you at every opportunity. So why — the past 12 months excepted — isn’t it? Why hasn’t increasing competition wrung the profits out of the industry? If we figure that out and fix it, gigantic Wall Street pay packages will become a thing of the past for good.