Bonuses in government

Posted by Marc Hodak on March 18, 2010 under Reporting on pay | Be the First to Comment

The headline and sub-title read:

Govt rewarded bank auditors with big bonuses:  As banks binged on risky mortgages, govt rewarded regulators with taxpayer-funded bonuses

Wow, this sounds like it’s gonna be good!  Their bonuses were funded by taxpayers!  And we didn’t get to vote on them!  So, how much did these Wall Street overseers earn?

During the 2003-06 boom, the three agencies that supervise most U.S. banks — the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — gave out at least $19 million in bonuses, records show.

Oh.  What does that come out to per employee?  Like $350?

Some government regulators got tens of thousands of dollars in perks, boosting their salaries by almost 25 percent. Often, though, rewards amounted to just a few hundred dollars for employees who came up with good ideas.

OK.  So, these bonuses went to the examiners who’s banks failed, when the signs were obvious at the time, right?

Because most bank inspection records are not public and the government blacked out many of the employee names before releasing the bonus data, it’s impossible to determine how many auditors got bonuses despite working on major banks that failed.

…”In retrospect, a stronger supervisory response at earlier examinations may have been prudent,” FDIC’s inspector general concluded.

In retrospect.  I see.  This is my favorite part:

In government, as on Wall Street, bonuses are part of the culture. Federal employees can get extra pay for innovative ideas, recruiting new talent or performing exceptional work. Candidates being considered for hard-to-fill jobs may be offered student loan reimbursement or cash bonuses to get them in the door and keep them from leaving.

Ah, yes, the Bonus Culture.  This is exactly like a trader at Goldman making a little extra–like $5 million–for getting a few extra trades per month done.

Do you get the feeling that the press runs after anything called a “bonus,” the way dogs run after tailpipes?