Well, these guys may have to hold off an second new Gulfstream for the kids or the dogs but:

'Over five years, from 2002 through 2006, Cayne took home total compensation—salary, bonus, restricted stock, and stock options—worth a combined $156 million. Current CEO Schwartz made $141 million. Former Co-President Warren Spector, deposed after the hedge fund debacle, did the best of them all, reaping $168 million. '

'Gold and the Three Bears' - Ben Levisohn

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/mar2008/db20080318_586339.htm

The FIRE economy, accounting for 5% of US employment, has been scamming 40% of all corporate profits.

'Here's a staggering figure to contemplate: New York City securities industry firms paid out a total of $137 billion in employee bonuses from 2002 to 2007, according to figures compiled by the New York State Office of the Comptroller. Let's break that down: Wall Street honchos earned a bonus of $9.8 billion in 2002, $15.8 billion in 2003, $18.6 billion in 2004, $25.7 billion in 2005, $33.9 billion in 2006, and $33.2 billion in 2007.'

'The Fed's Too Easy on Wall Street' - Chris Farrell

http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/mar2008/pi20080318_697440.htm?chan=

top+news_top+news+index_top+story

A single bonus season, 2006 or 2007, take your pick, was more than all the wage increases to the bottom 80% of the wage earners since 2000.

Michel Camdessus : “The widening gaps between rich and poor within nations are morally outrageous, economically wasteful, and potentially socially explosive. It is not enough to increase the size of the cake. The way it is shared is deeply relevant.”

"it would hardly be an exaggeration to suggest that a successful Olympics would partially erase the stain of 19th century foreign domination and imperial collapse that transformed China from one of the world's great powers into a basket case."

China had already transformed itself into a war torn and hopelessly corrupt basket case and that it why its decadent elites were helpless to resist Western (that would be us 'barbarians') commercial/military incursions and appropriations of Chinese territory.

'Michel Camdessus : “The widening gaps between rich and poor within nations are morally outrageous, economically wasteful, and potentially socially explosive. It is not enough to increase the size of the cake. The way it is shared is deeply relevant.”

Are they simply our former anons come in from the shelter of nameless letters or what?

And here's the complete paragraph from Professor Roubini which contains that 'worst financial crisis' reference.

(emphasis mine.)

'By lending massive amounts to potentially insolvent institutions that it does not supervise or regulate and that may be insolvent the Fed is taking serious financial risks and seriously exacerbate moral hazard distortions. Here you have highly leveraged non bank financial institutions that made reckless investments and lending, had extremely poor risk management and altogether disregarded liquidity risks; some may be insolvent but now the Fed is providing them with a blank check for unlimited amounts. This is a most radical action and a signal of how severe the crisis of the banking system and non-bank shadow financial system is. This is the worst US financial crisis since the Great Depression and the Fed is treating it as if it was only a liquidity crisis. But this is not just a liquidity crisis; it is rather a credit and insolvency crisis. And it is not the job of the Fed to bail out insolvent non bank financial institutions. If a bail out should occur this is a fiscal policy action that should be decided by Congress after the relevant equity holders have been wiped out and senior management fired without golden parachutes and huge severance packages.'

A Generalized Run on the Shadow Financial System

Nouriel Roubini | Mar 17, 2008

http://www.rgemonitor.com/blog/roubini/249924

goes to specifying name brand (Kold-Draft) ice cubes.

Give me a break.