At the very least I would have insisted that the banks give the government a big equity in return for the bailout. Had I been at the helm, I would also have insisted on changing their boards of directors and firing the chief executives. Instead they voted themselves large bonuses. Why not? They have just defrauded the government out of hundreds of billions and come out unscathed. Except for Lehmann. And now they seem poised to do it again. And what about the rating companies? They are either incompetent or fraudsters. Somehow, and I don’t know how, they have to be financed in some way other than by the companies they rate. That is just asking for trouble.
Duh.
But there was a claim that “most” Americans don’t own stock, which is untrue.
I believe that it might be true that allowing the banks to fail was not an acceptable choice. I see no reason that fifty percent permanent reduction (retroactive to the last board meeting) for all executive compensation as a precondition for the each company being given these sweetheart deals should not have been offered to the stockholders. Subsequent increases in executive compensation would be deferred until after all loans were repaid.
So what? If 10% of Americans own 84% of all stocks, then the fact that a (slight) majority of Americans own any stock is utterly pointless.