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BONUSES….Robert Rubin has apparently told the Citigroup board that all of them should forego their bonuses this year. Ezra Klein asks, what bonuses?

Am I missing the point of bonuses? I always understood them to be tied to performance, either that of the individuals or that of the company. But the company almost went bankrupt this year and the executives demonstrated themselves almost cosmically hapless. If they were going to get bonuses, then what could the term possibly mean? Bonus for what? A working cardiovascular system?

Silly boy. You expect these titans of risk to take an actual risk with their own pay? That’s not how it works in corporate America. When the stock market is skyrocketing, everyone gets stock options. When it’s tanking, suddenly everyone gets religion and takes their comp in cash and perks. As for bonuses, the range of payout is almost never the theoretical 0-100%. In reality, it’s more like 70-95% for the range of reasonably conceivable outcomes. If your company goes completely bankrupt, that might go down to 60%. Welcome to Wall Street.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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