The popular argument given against financial industry executives who got big bonuses a couple of years ago was that it was immoral to reward them for failure. This argument from the intelligentsia was so convincing that the public outcry against these “fat cats” almost turned violent.
But was this a genuine argument?
Today we have what we call in science experimentation, a control experiment, to test if that argument was indeed sincere. The CEO of Ford Motor company managed to turn his company around, saved many jobs, and did not even get any bailout money. For this he has now been rewarded handsomely in stock options. So, what is the reaction of the critics now that we have a guy who is not being rewarded for failure but for success? Are they now satisfied?
Believe it or not, they still say it’s immoral! The dishonesty involved in maintaining these two contradictory positions is simply overwhelming.
Here’s the story.
