Give Thain His Bonus

The popular sentiment this year is that Wall Street executives begging for a bailout better not expect to receive their typical eye-popping bonuses. So Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain's request for a $10 million kicker angered some, like New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who called it an "thumb in the eye of the taxpayers". But James Surowiecki, the New Yorker's financial columnist, says if anyone deserves a bonus this year, it's Thain. "Unlike the executives at Lehman and Bear, Thain recognized Merrill’s vulnerability and its need for a deep-pocketed parent." True, the company's stock has lost 75 percent of it's value, but Surowiecki says the blame for that lies with mistakes made before Thain ever took office. "Instead he played the hand he’d been dealt, and, as it turned out, played it very well."