1) Bank bonuses aren't just paid to executives. These losses were from one department of the bank and that one department could have losses so large that it des

1) Bank bonuses aren't just paid to executives. These losses were from one department of the bank and that one department could have losses so large that it destroyed the whole bank. Even if you got rid of the people who fucked up, you'd have a lot of people left who didn't. Also, the banks that failed were typically sold off to banks who healthy. The government was strong arming banks into buying weaker banks with gov loans. Goldman, Chase, BoA all didn't get trapped in the subprime mess. 2) Talent will flee to the money. I've seen this in law firms. Firms that don't properly pay their "rainmakers" lose them to firms who will. The banks laid off tons of people.