About Those AIG Retention Bonuses...

clipped from www.nytimes.com Seventy-three employees were paid more than $1 million in the latest bonuses at the insurance giant American International Group, according to the New York attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo. “A.I.G. made more than 73 millionaires in the unit which lost so much money that it brought the firm to its knees, forcing a taxpayer bailout,” Mr. Cuomo wrote in the letter. “Something is deeply wrong with this outcome.” Mr. Cuomo did not name the bonus recipients, but the numbers are eye-popping, given A.I.G.’s fragile state. The highest bonus was $6.4 million, and six other employees received more than $4 million, according to Mr. Cuomo. Fifteen other people received bonuses of more than $2 million, and 51 people received bonuses of $1 million to $2 million, Mr. Cuomo said. Eleven of those who received “retention” bonuses of $1 million or more are no longer working at A.I.G., including one who received $4.6 million, he said.

So they need to pay bonuses to retain good employees. That's the argument, anyway.

But the numbers show they they gave huge bonuses to 73 of their worst employees. Further, these bonuses failed to retain employees, since "eleven of those who received 'retention' bonuses of $1 million or more are no longer working at A.I.G."

There's nothing about any of this that makes a damned bit of sense. Anyone else starting to suspect that "Titan of finance" and "complete moron" are synonymous?