The G-20 summit was a true public relations success. Despite low expectations, the spin at the close of the conference promoted the concept that there was a consensus among the nations that participated.
The FreePasser Issues Still Remain!
However, despite the public claims of success, serious economic problems underlying the current global financial crisis still remain. These [...]

Last week Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, gave a speech to a group of institutional investors in which he called for new pay standards and regulation of hedge funds and private equity groups.
Back to the Future
When it comes to Wall Street pay standards, it might be called “Back to the Future.” These pay arrangements [...]

I have noted before that the FreePasser epidemic has permeated every aspect of our society. However, the recent disclosures of the use of government bailout money for bonuses at American International Group (AIG) astound even me. It turns out that the taxpayer bailout money was used to pay bonuses of about $450 million to a [...]

There is a passionate discussion going on about the government bailout and its costs. Some say that there should be no bailout, and that the the taxpayer is being unfairly stuck with the cost. Some believe that the financial system should be allowed to operate without interference - that, ultimately, the free market will prevail. On the other [...]

Some people have claimed that accountability in the public sector is even more difficult than the private sector because of the degree of bureaucracy involved. This is the primary reason that many are pushing for increased privatization of government services.
History has shown that there are limits to the degree of privatization that society will accept, so we [...]

President Obama announced that he wants to impose compensation limits on executives of companies that receive government financial rescue funds. His proposal includes the following provisions:

A $500,000 cash cap on annual compensation for senior executives
Requiring top executives at financial institutions to hold stock for several years before they cash out
Requiring nonbinding “say on pay” resolutions [...]

Although my last several posts have focused on FreePassers in corporate America and on Wall Street, we also find an abundant number of them in government, especially in Washington, D.C.
Trust the Banks: One of the Greatest Lies in History
When the original TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) legislation was first introduced it had few restrictions and was [...]

Recent headlines hitting the news over the last several days indicate that the FreePasser epidemic is alive and well on Wall Street and in corporate America. However, the scale of some of these abuses amaze even me.
The $1 Million Office
CNBC reporter Charlie Gasparino reported that former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain spent $1.2 million to redecorate [...]