Comments on: If Bankers Were Firemen . . .

By: Mark E Hoffer

Mark E Hoffer — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:57:50 +0000

wu,

yes, of course, that thoughtstream was running between my ears, as well..

I’ve long thought that it’d be interesting to have the ‘toonist notate his vector– to give an idea as to where they were coming from..

though, more directly responsive to your Q, given the ones I’ve seen, and the few I’ve met, no, not really )

By: wisedup

wisedup — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:42:08 +0000

Mark, I understood the comment to mean “give the bonuses to X rather than to Y”
if we could really know what went on the minds of cartoonists would we really want to know?

By: Mark E Hoffer

Mark E Hoffer — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 05:53:15 +0000

wu,

this: “I think the cartoonist is saying that giving financiers extremely large bonuses destroys their ability to properly weight the risks to the organization.”– may be correct..

though, the ‘toonist goes on and says:~ “If ‘others’ were given the same mind-warping bonuses, we wouldn’t be in this mess”

so, I’m not sure I’d concur with the end message, of the cartoon, that you’re forwarding..

though, that’s the beauty of Markets: “Differin’ opines cause them to run the Equuines”.

By: dskofstad

dskofstad — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:39:45 +0000

Note to Andrew11:

Wordy, but correct. More succinct: “If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about the answers.” – Thomas Pynchon

By: jus7tme

jus7tme — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:58:30 +0000

>> Who gave Realtor’s a free pass.

Who, indeed. The realtors are the epicenter of the bubble. They are worse than the bankers, brokers and financiers. The realtors were the hot air in the bubble. They were actively inflating it 24×7 with their endless prattle about housing values that only go up, they are not making any more land, it is the best school district, buy now or be forever left out, and on and on and ON ON AND ON AND ON.

The rest of the crooks went along, but it is the realtors that should at the top of the list of people to blame.

By: wisedup

wisedup — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:15:38 +0000

for MarkH, actually you’re wrong. The cartoon is merely emphasizing an extremely well-known management conundrum.
How do you ensure success? too strong? so -> How do you maximize the probability of success?
Success=Positive differential between positive outcomes and negative outcomes.
Sports teams, banking, the markets, all managers/boards, all have to solve the same problem.
I think the cartoonist is saying that giving financiers extremely large bonuses destroys their ability to properly weight the risks to the organization. The organization is no longer seen as worthy of respect or careful handling.

By: Thatguy

Thatguy — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:12:53 +0000

I was hoping MH. I was really hoping. But then we all know about hope…….

By: Mark E Hoffer

Mark E Hoffer — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:25:31 +0000

Thatguy Says: February 18th, 2009 at 8:45 am

TG,

you’re suggesting Individual Responsibility? and Coordinated Action, thereon?

What do you think this is? America?

wisedup Says: February 18th, 2009 at 4:12 am

and, more seriously, as wu points to, the knowledgebase, is, already, extant. too bad we’ve been conditioned to receive, as opposed to, able to receive the conditions and act accordingly.

past that, this ‘toon is, in *Reality, little more than high-grade agitprop..

By: MikeG

MikeG — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:23:47 +0000

I’d like to know where the Repukes bitching about the ‘Generational Theft Act’ were in the last eight years.
They greenlighted over $1 trillion in tax cuts geared toward upper incomes in response to the comparatively minor economic slowdown of 2001, and cheerled the disastrously expensive, and disastrous in many other dimensions, occupation of Iraq. In Repuke magical thinking ‘tax cuts pay for themselves’, so if we cut taxes to zero then tax revenues will go to infinity. And the $700 billion-a-year military somehow isn’t ‘big government spending’ but is funded by mighty warrior life-force lightning bolts sent from heaven by John Wayne and Ronald Reagan.

But now $800 billion spread widely around the economy in response to a massive financial meltdown resulting primarily from the right-wing ideology of deregulation and zero oversight is ‘generational theft’. These clowns need to exhibit some responsibility and shame for the disaster they cheered on, and just shut up and sit down.

By: Ozzie

Ozzie — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:18:50 +0000

With all due respect, if you change the word “Banker” into “Sub-prime home owners” or “american consumerism” you would get just about the same conclusion. Remember, it takes two-to-tango (in this case, a lot of party involved, RE agents, sub-prime home owners, bankers, MBS buyers, government, and so on). Bankers are just scapegoat because they are high-profile and easily visible. Pretty much like when an attorney wanted to get himself a promotion, he just shoot for the high-profile cases. It gets the highest visibility and approval.