As whole the business has recently visited bottom, wherein the whole industry would have pretty much shutdown had the global governments not stepped in with unprecedented force. Force of money sure, but it seems also force of wisdom (that should correlate to "talent" no?). So what was the "best talent" doing? did they simply fall asleep at the wheel? It appears that matters were much worse. The "talent" actively applied their significant skill to drive the markets to the bottom (that may not have been the intention, but the actions were all quite deliberate).
Now again the industry back to paying top dollar to retain this "top notch talent", that was able to collectively drive them so successfully into collapse. surely they are the only ones who can guarantee that they will either succeed or if they fail, do so with such completeness that the taxpayer will have no choice but to step in and save them. Classic downside risk mitigation.
So what is wrong with the whole equation, to my mind absolutely nothing. What is wrong is our outcome expectation. We expect this system to work for us, the economy, workers at large etc. The equation does not include "greater good" anywhere in it. Wall street is working the way it should, has the smartest people, who are being paid top dollar to make huge money for their bosses all the while mitigating downside risks, ensuring that the "less than smartest" taxpayer will be around to a tough spot. what more can you ask for if you are a large shareholder at a wall street firm.
