This article doesn’t make clear enough the fact that ALL major Wall Street banks continue to have billions of dollars of federal assistance. Set the pay for giving money to AIG but not for Goldman Sachs, despite the fact that the money went directly from AIG to Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs books profits because their counterparty is being directly propped up with federal dollars. And it’s obviously not just GS.
That we’re willing to set pay at 7 firms but not others is an absurd Kabuki theater exercise in pretending that the administration gives a damn about it. It is only a way to inoculate the administration against the inevitable public outcry when (still absurd) Wall Street pay gets reported. It is shameful, shameful, shameful.
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