(Originally published 27 September 2010)
Something rather interesting happens during the end credits of the latest Will Ferrell comedy, ‘The Other Guys’; to the somewhat arch soundtrack ‘Pimps Don’t Cry’, animated sequences show: How a Ponzi scheme works; How the $700 billion T.A.R.P. bailout equated to a $2,258 payment from every man, woman and child in the United States (the children won’t of course have the money, but they’ll be paying for it as part of the government deficit for the foreseeable future); That 73 employees of failed insurer AIG received $1.2 billion in taxpayer-funded post-bailout bonuses; That the ratio of CEO pay to that of the average US employee rose from 7:1 in 1917 to 107:1 in 1990, and to 319:1 in 2010; How the recent stock price history of Goldman Sachs compares to that of the average US listed business; That the average CEO retirement benefit package amounts to $83,600,000 while the average American 401K account has recorded a 47% loss over the last five years.
