Thank you for an insightful analysis. It's somewhat interesting that HN'ers believe they are super smart but downvote anything that goes against the mainstream

Thank you for an insightful analysis. It's somewhat interesting that HN'ers believe they are super smart but downvote anything that goes against the mainstream dogma. Finance is complex. Even a smart guy like Philip Greenspun made a fool of himself in this article. Better not make strong statements when one is treading outside one's area of expertise... I would argue that many allow emotion to cloud their judgement. Of course that taxpayers are not happy to see their money being wasted on bonuses, but shouldn't we analyze the situation in objective terms? Your analysis was one of the most balanced I have read in recent times. Sometimes one must choose between two evils. Things are seldom black & white. I liked your take on the need to compensate and keep AIG's traders, in order to avoid them going elsewhere and start predatory practises against their former employer. Makes sense. I wonder why no one had mentioned it before.