Executive Bonuses


Executive bonuses are something of a political hot-button these days. The thing is, a lot of talking is done, but nothing changes. Nor will it change. Even though the pointless greed is abhorrent to most folks, those in a position to change this sort of thing seem to see it as a cost of doing business.

And as long as that stands, as long as companies *can* pay giant severance packages and ludicrous bonuses far out of seeming proportion to what is deserved, they *will* pay them.

Sure, it's despicable in many cases. A lot of things are despicable though, and little is done about most of those things. Things only change when people are directly affected, or there is large amounts of political capital and will to make a change available.

None of these three conditions have been met, as far as I can tell. The average Joe might be pissed off about it, but it's not like it affects him as much as the price of gas does. If something doesn't directly affect people, it's pretty rare anything gets done.

Even if it doesn't make sound economic sense, that doesn't mean that there's any particular reason it won't happen. The business world really doesn't act on sound economic premises - perfect knowledge doesn't exist. And when decisions are made with an imperfect understanding, don't expect the logical thing to happen.

Business is more of a study in 'how badly can people run things before it implodes?' From first-hand experience, pretttttty badly.

I expect abhorrent bonuses and the like to be around for a long time to come.