It’s a little hard to look at Wall Street without cringing these days. The nation’s richest financiers have been moping around midtown east like Eeyore, despondent about their stock prices, their return-on-equity figures, and the fact that the president won’t read their grandkids’ poetry manuscripts…
Yes, there have been layoffs at financial firms. Lots of them. And yes, nobody’s making as much as they did in ‘06. But for the bankers who remain employed, life is pretty good. Bonuses are recovering from their post-crisis lows, according to industry compensation guru Alan Johnson, and rising share prices are making those stock options you got in ‘09 and ‘10 look mighty attractive. Lots of financiers are still paying sub-20-percent tax rates, and it’s even possible to receive a bonus if you preside over a struggling bank and take a giant writedown on a major asset! Long story short, you don’t have to be buying apartments in 740 Park to realize that the worst is probably over.
New York Magazine / October 4, 2012