Can we all just calm down a little?<\/p>\n
Yes, the $165 million in bonuses handed out to executives in the financial products division of American International Group was infuriating. Truly, it was. As many others have noted, this is the same unit whose shenanigans came perilously close to bringing the world\u2019s financial system to its knees. When the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, said recently that A.I.G.\u2019s \u201cirresponsible bets\u201d\u009d had made him \u201cmore angry\u201d\u009d than anything else about the financial crisis, he could have been speaking for most Americans.<\/p>\n
But death threats? \u201cAll the executives and their families should be executed with piano wire \u201d\u201d my greatest hope,\u201d\u009d wrote one person in an e-mail message to the company. Another suggested publishing a list of the \u201cYankee\u201d\u009d bankers \u201cso some good old southern boys can take care of them.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n