www.premub.com

Obama’s billion $ point

Posted on the February 4th, 2009 under General by premub

$18.4 billion – That was the amount which made the uber-cool new U.S. President fuming.

Barack Obama wanted an introspection on whether Wall Street executives should have taken such massive ay-outs in 2008, a year which confirmed the start of what many call the worst recession in ‘living’ history.

Obama has a point. The much-hyped concept of investment banking was wiped off from glossy annals of history, larger-than-life banks collapsed without a trace, industrial growth plunged, and pink slips piled up across the globe.

So what where all these top honchos doing all the time. Weren’t they aware of the nature of crises which were to hit their inflated books and overrated performances?

True regulatory loopholes would have played a part. But that is no wanton excuse to take home the greenback in billions, after uttering the customary refrain of “hard times” to sack low and middle level employees, whom they hired without a alarming lack of vision, or without knowing what is in store in the days, months and year’s ahead.

The response as usual from some captains of free market was to ridicule intervention by state in matters of industry – like what happened in India when the man who ushered in reforms – Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — himself spoke of executive pay.

So if intervention is bad why is everyone from clobbered banks to companies desperately in need of a lifeline seeking government bailouts.

That is the answer which the tax payers are seeking from the Wall Street honchos.