Is It All About The Benjamins?

Is It All About The Benjamins?

Check out the following commentary by Economics Finance blog contributor Alex Knapp.

Article Link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/17/AR2010121707069.html’

There has recently been a lot of uproar in regards to the massive bonuses received by men and women on Wall Street. Even though 2010 has seen up to 30% declines in those annual bonuses at some firms, people outside of the big brokerage houses, investment banks, and other financial institutions still feel that these conniving swindlers are being overpaid.

Based on a Washington Post article these worries could be soon alleviated. For the past 20 years, MBA students at the Wharton School have had to write a mid-term paper on how they were paid and managed at their last job. This year, the professors said that out of the over 800 papers submitted, there was a resounding shift in the sentiment of young workers toward big bonuses.

The students at Wharton seem to have a growing distrust of the bonus system and prefer meaningful feedback and supervision. This seems like a very nice thought, but these students would not be attending the highest touted business school in the world if they were just looking for meaningful feedback. They could have become veterinarians, pediatricians, or joined the Peace Corps; these professions provide meaningful feedback every day. Though it is a nice thought, and sounds great in an essay to your professor, I wonder why they didn’t say the same thing to their boss when he or she handed them a $200,000 check, as one student cited.

As a business student myself, surrounded by all of my business student friends, I question the sincerity of the Wharton students. Not to say that all business men and women are bloodsucking money mongers, but there are millions of other professions out there they could have chosen instead.

Since we are all business majors here at Bentley, what do you think of big bonuses, why did you get into the business world, and do you think there will be a change in the way big financial firms compensate employees?