A modest proposal: Make banker bonuses payable in electric cars!

Daily Finance ^ | 07/17/09 | Alex Salkever

[TigerLikesRooster]

A modest proposal: Make banker bonuses payable in electric cars!

Alex Salkever

Jul 17th 2009 at 1:00PM

Goldman Sachs (GS) and JP Morgan (JPM), reported blow-out earnings to be matched with blow-out six and seven-figure bonuses for their staffs. And struggling electric car company Tesla Motors opened a Gotham showroom (via AMNewYork) for its Roadster. This sporty two-seater zips from zero-to-sixty in a breathtaking 3.7 seconds. The car's $109,000 price tag is also breathtaking. But if you're a bulge-bracket banker, coughing up $109,000 for a car means merely a slight downgrade on the Hamptons summer rental. So the modest proposal is thus -- for all bankers getting bonuses over $500,000 -- to put their names on the Tesla waiting list and take the cash out of their bonuses. Such a plan would have numerous benefits. First and foremost, ownership of such a limited edition vehicle (only a few hundreds Tesla Roadsters have been produced to date) would enhance the self-esteem of the beleaguered Investment bankers by giving them a toy that their out-of-work hedge fund homies don't have (only 40 Roadsters have been delivered to New York City zip codes to date).

[TigerLikesRooster]

He got it wrong. They should be paid in California IOU's.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[IbJensen]

Here's another proposal:

Take away chauffeured limousines from ALL goobermint officials.

[org.whodat]

I agree about the CA IOU's, but in buckets of carbon would also work.

The people on wall street that caused all this AIG driven mess should be taxed their heads in a bucket.

[null and void]

Maybe back all US currency with electric cars?...

[culpeper]

Most of the people on Wall Street that caused this mess dont work at those firms anymore. Why dont you cry about the government mandated lending that contributed to it ? Those politicians are still in power. Wall Street makes alot of money in other things unrelated to mortgages btw.

[taxtruth]

Sleazebag bankers at work with o’s agenda wanting to reap the benefits from the sheep.

[The Great RJ]

Better still make members of Congress drive electric cars and ban them from having SUVs. I would also replace all the toilets in the Capital with low flow and composting models. Congress should have to suffer the consequences of its own laws.

[dennisw]

They should be paid in carbon credits

[combat_boots]

“Most of the people on Wall Street that caused this mess dont work at those firms anymore.”

Or at Fannie/Freddie.....

Raines comes to mind. The real thieves are elsewhere living large on US wealth. Or in Congress & the WH. Same difference.

[Wolfie]

Sign me up. Guaranteed wealth generator, just you watch.

[M. Espinola]

Every bailed-out, Big Banking bankroller of Obama's agenda should be first; fired, second; forced to repay every million with interest which they have brazenly stolen from the American taxpayers, and third; then locked up these schmucks with Uncle Bernie.

[dalereed]

Better yet make electric cars illegal!

[razorback-bert]

This site takes them:

http://www.secondmarket.com/?gclid=CLan2PTL4JsCFdFL5Qodn1B—A

[org.whodat]

Why dont you cry about the government mandated lending that contributed to it ?

ROFLOL, just wave a big flag and say I don't know jack about what happened here would suite you to a T. No one But no one and no law forced any stupid banker to leverage their damn business 40 to 1.

[culpeper]

No one had a problem with Lehman and Bear Stearns being leveraged 40-1 when they were making money. Yo cant have it both ways and then complain when it doesnt work out.