The Entitlement of Financial Potentates

There's greed and then there's the inconceivable immensity of unbridled, rapacious greed. As historically exemplified by Wall Street, by the intensely widened gap between the colossi of financial institutions, the CEOs of giant international corporations, the politicians who support their free-enterprise-right to demand their entitled emoluments beyond reasonable expectation, and working-class Americans struggling to make a living.

So it isn't entirely surprising, although it is breathtaking in its self-serving heedlessness, to learn that CEOs of investment bank Lehman Brothers relentlessly pursued their impressively exorbitant bonuses even while that financial institution was sinking into economic oblivion, and at the very time it was pleading with government for a bail-out on the taxpayers' dime. Not that they represent the sole instance of squandered millions by any means, only the most visible at the moment.

Through the grimly questioning auspices of a series of congressional hearings by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform the tawdry details of self-availment are revealed. It excites true revulsion on the part of the public, at the lack of moral character, the preferential shunning of ethics, to read that Lehman Brothers' chief executive officer Richard Fuld who saw nothing amiss in receiving $480-million over 20 years in 'compensation'.

Modestly, Mr. Fuld pointed out that in view of Lehman's now-worthless stock, his holdings represented a far leaner value of $350-million. In deference to his agape-mouthed audience, he allowed as how "That's still a lot of money." Indeed it most certainly is. The wretchedness of the situation merely underlined by the fact that even while Mr. Fuld beseeched Treasury Secretary Paulson for federal consideration, his firm handed out a lavish $20-million representing "special payments" to three executives.

And then there's the little detail of a close relative of the current president, George W. Bush, George Walker, member of Lehman Brothers' executive committee mocking another executive who timidly suggested that perhaps the present time was not entirely convenient for the investment bank's executives to receive their lucrative bonuses. A recommendation that was spurned as a hilarious mis-statement by President Bush's cousin, out of hand.

Mr. Fuld honourably declared that he took "full responsibility" for his decisions, that his highly-respected investment firm had no intention of misleading investors, and "I feel horrible about what has happened to the company and its effects on so many", but yet aggressively demands to know why his investment institution was not granted a federal rescue. It was obviously not his fault, nor that of his colleagues that the company failed.

And how much responsibility will he take, how badly does he feel? Offering to return hundreds of millions to those who have lost so much in the collapse of the investment firm's inadequacies? Not merely shareholders, and company employees, nor the thousands who are unable now to conduct their businesses without necessary loans, but the international fall-out of this predictable debacle of money markets gone mad.

From stunned Iceland, once a country proud of its primary products economy, latterly prouder still of its expanding banking system built on false premises, which now can boast liabilities of $100-billion, balanced against its gross domestic product of $14-billion. Whom no other friendly country, so latterly admiring of the quality of life in Iceland - trumpeted as first among firsts by a UN quality-of-life commission - is ready to offer rescue and solace in its collapsed financial state.

European leaders now calling out for calm, uncertain whether they should continue to follow the example of the United States, when their previous unquestioning buy-in of worthless paper brought them to their current parlous financial doom. A united European Union suddenly finds itself dis-united, as one country after another, without waiting for combined agreement, takes its own hopefully remedial steps to avert financial disaster.

They fear ending up like Iceland, taking the full brunt of the collapse. Iceland, which so recently was deemed the best of all possible countries in which to reside, with its free health and education systems, its booming economy and high literacy, no longer knows where to turn.