Banker's outsized bonus? Go figure.

What is your reaction if your salary got cut by 50%? Well, I will quit in protest. Sure. But I will think twice this time because someone from somewhere out there is still unemployed and desperately looking for one. Hence, most people, I believe, will just endure and spend less. That’s just fine at least psychologically if everyone is suffering from the same thing during the economic downturn. But please take a look at The Wall Street Journal. It says:

“At Goldman-Sachs, per the WSJ, "Average compensation per employee is on pace to reach about $743,000 this year, double last year's $364,000 and up 12 percent from about $622,000 in 2007 ..."

Furthermore,

“Major U.S. banks and securities firms are on pace to pay their employees about $140 billion this year -- a record high that shows compensation is rebounding despite regulatory scrutiny of Wall Street's pay culture."

Then Bloomberg reports:

"JPMorgan Chase & Co., the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, said third-quarter profit rose almost sevenfold, beating analysts' estimates as fixed-income revenue surged ... Earnings climbed to $3.59 billion, or 82 cents a share, from $527 million, or 9 cents, in the same period a year earlier at the height of the financial crisis, the New York-based company said today in a statement."

The most quoted defense of bankers receiving outsized bonus is that, “I have worked so hard and so long that I deserve the bonus.” “The pressure bearing on us is so huge that the bonus paid is my compensation.” In other words, bankers have worked very hard, therefore, they should be paid well. I am sorry to let those out-of-touch bankers know that everyone of us is working hard these days, hoping that they wouldn’t get sacked in the next round of downsizing (what a nice term). From the bankers’ logic, everyone should be paid well too. That certainly isn’t happening in the United States of America when the rest of us (ex-bankers of course) prepare for 10 per cent unemployment rate. By the time, the Wall Street smart guy is celebrating their bonus, I am afraid the fire of class warfare will rage on the land of America. It is time for the very-high-paid bankers to do something now that benefits the society as a whole.