Capital Punishment: What Should We Do To Wall Street’s Villains?

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


According to the principles of retributive justice, punishment is supposed to be more or less in proportion to the magnitude of a crime. So—which do you think is an appropriate punishment for the Wall Street executives whose greed and corruption not only bankrupted their own companies, but set in motion a meltdown that has deprived millions of Americans of their homes and their life savings, driven millions more into unemployment and poverty, and triggered economic chaos, political unrest, and even starvation and death around the world?

A. Don’t give them a bonus this year.

B. Fire their asses.

C. Lock them up and throw away the key.

If you answered A, you are in line with the policies of the Obama administration, which, after giving billions in bailout money to the likes of AIG, discovered that the company intends to pay out millions in executive bonuses.  The administration’s response has been to get really, really pissed off, and say that they just aren’t going to stand for  these guys getting multi-million-dollar bonuses on top of their multi-million-dollar salaries–if only they can figure out a way around those pesky contracts.

If you answered B, you agree with the surprisingly small number of politicians in either party who have come out and said that the leadership of these companies–who must surely be incompetent if they aren’t crooked–should be jettisoned from their jobs without golden parachutes.  House Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank raised eyebrows yesterday when he said that since the federal government now effectively owns some 80 percent of AIG, maybe they should do some housecleaning:  “Maybe it’s time to fire some people. We can’t keep them from getting the bonuses, but we can keep some of them from continuing in their jobs.”

If you answered C, I suspect you have a lot of company among the world population at large–but not so much among politicians or the press.  I really had to look around to find anyone talking about investigating and prosecuting these guys, even with an eye toward fines and restitution–as Ralph Nader does in this piece from Counterpunch:

Where are the resources for comprehensive law enforcement against the Wall Street crooks, swindlers and purveyors of costly deceptive practices? Isn’t there a need to add two to three hundred million dollars for more FBI agents, prosecutors and corporate crime attorneys under the Justice Department to obtain the fines and disgorgements which will far exceed in dollars what is spent by the forces of law and order?

Americans want justice. They want jailtime not bailtime for these crooks. Look how many of the swindled just turned out in a New York City winter to let Bernard Madoff have a piece of their mind as he entered the courtroom and immediate imprisonment. There has been very little movement so far in Congress or the White House toward this necessary action.

The lesson in all this is that regardless of what happens with their bonuses, the Wall Street execs have suceeded in controlling the terms of the debate. Because as long as we’re arguing about whether they should get a few million more or a few million less, we’re not discussing whether they should serve their time in a medium-security federal penitentiary or a maximum-security one.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate