Saturday, December 26, 2009

Gilded Age Take Two


"Taxpayers have put up an estimated $17.5 trillion toward guarantees, loans, and bailouts since 2008, and what have they to show for it? They've seen their net worth drop by an estimated $14 trillion. The nation's jobless rate hit 10.2 percent in October- it's half again higher for people between the ages of 20 adn 24...

"Banking interests have been the beneficiaries of that $17.5 trillion in guarantees, loans and bailouts, and what have they to show for it? At top-tier firms such as Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase, the aid has meant record profits- which means record bonuses. Those two outfits, along with Morgan-Stanley, all of which received funds from the Troubled Assets Relief Program, will reportedly dole out an unprecedented $29.7 billion in bonuses for 2009, almost half of that by Goldman Sachs alone, meaning it will enrich its 31,700 employees by an average of $415,000 each." Editor's Letter, Vanity Fair, January 2010.

Anybody out there thinking, "I'd take a tenth of that $415,000 and put it to really good use?" Yeah, I am.

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