How to make AIG executives give up their bonuses

The government claims they are contractually obligated to pay 400 AIG executives and employees their $165M in bonuses.

How do we get these people to do the right thing and forgo these completely undeserved bonuses?

The administration can play hardball. Make a public statement that states, yes, you can take your bonus as the law dictates. However, if you do, we will make your names, addresses, and the amount of your bonus public. Not hardball enough? Then, make this policy apply in perpetuity (e.g. if you move, we will keep your address up to date). Too hardball? Limit it to those taking home >$500K from this bonus pool.

This will certainly make them think twice about accepting this money.

Of course, none of this would have been a problem if we hadn’t bailed them out in the first place – they would enter bankruptcy and these contracts could be void.

3 thoughts on “How to make AIG executives give up their bonuses

  1. … who defers to the New York Times, who says something similar to what I post above:

    “Mr. Cuomo wants to know who A.I.G.’s lucky employees are, and how they have been doing at their jobs. So here is a suggestion for him. Get the list, and give those big earners at A.I.G. a not-so-subtle nudge: Perhaps they will “volunteer” to give some of their bonuses back or watch their names hit the newspapers.”

  2. I should have been more specific. Specifically, I defer to this segment: “blah, blah, blah, etc.”

    His follow-up today (here if you missed it) finds my general agreement, albeit with less apathy. Specifically, “In the meantime, beware your intuitions about vindication and payback, I would say.”

    ps. MR has another AIG post up but it is not by Tyler, nor is it noteworthy

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