Quotable

On the recently announced pay cuts on Wall Street - my view is that the Obama administration is putting out window dressing to shield themselves from the flak that is going to hit them when firms like Goldman Sachs start to disburse their $20 billion bonus pool.

"This is a shock to the firms. A 90% drop in cash compensation is worse than the harshest expectations, this is going to destabilize these firms, because these folks have a standard of living they are accustomed to. ... This might make Citi or Bank of America unworkable for them."

--- Jeff Visithpanich, principal at Johnson Associates, which advises several Wall Street firms on compensation.

Poor Wall Street hedge fund managers, their 'standard of living' would be affected. I guess they will now have to downgrade their plans for buying that Maybach with a measly Maserati... I feel very sad for them..