Americans are outraged at Wall Street and the country’s big banks for several reasons, the least of which is the latest report that bonuses for financial execs increased 25 percent in 2009. Millions of Americans are out of work, unemployment is at the highest it’s been in a decade and the country continues to suffer economically. Yet, an industry that had to be bailed out by taxpayers can afford to reward its top officials. Americans have a right to be outraged.

It wasn’t that long ago – just over a year – that the United States government offered up $700 billion of taxpayer money to prevent the financial industry from collapsing. Years of unregulated financial dealings and the purchase of faulty credit assets by the banks led to that moment and, without the bailout, our economy would have suffered tremendously.
Now, it seems the financial industry has not only “recovered”, it is benefiting from the loan.  The dollars use to save the industry were utilized to generate historic profits for the big banks…they in turn gave themselves both cash and non-cash bonuses.

To be fair, when a company does well it should reward it’s staff. But when a company is just coming off of one of the biggest financial disasters in history, profits should be reinvested to ensure future financial stability. They should not reward leaders for short-term success. Instead, long term stability should be their reward. Reinvesting in the business and industry includes hiring more staff. Most economists think the huge profits are a result of the banks laying off staff or terminating jobs and giving more work to the employees that remained. Less staff and overhead costs equal bigger profits.

We should all write legislators and advocate that the government tie financial sector pay to the long-term financial success of the firms. These short-term gains are great, but are not indicative of the overall health of the industry. Critics argue that government should not intervene and has no place mandating how banks pay staff. I disagree. When the taxpayers are responsible from saving the sector from collapse then the government, as our representative, does and should have a say.

A recent study by the found that while, ten years ago, 45 percent of Americans thought college was available to the majority of students that number has now dropped to 28 percent. Today, parents and students think education is too expensive and that schools are far too concerned with their bottom line than they are whether or not students are getting the most of out their education.  

Over the course of their working life, the average high school graduates can expect to earn $1.2 million while an individual with a bachelor’s degree can expect to earn $2.1 million. This huge gap in lifetime income clearly illustrates the benefits – and need – for higher education. Graduates aren’t the only ones who benefit, though. The larger society prospers because the workforce will be better prepared and workers earning higher incomes go on to pay additional tax dollars, money that can then go to fund federal programs. 

It is discouraging, and alarming, to realize that the public has very little faith in the higher education system. Over time, as the trust erodes, so too will the enthusiasm to pursue education after high school. When the desire fades, enrollment will begin to fall, setting off a chain reaction that puts our nation’s workforce and economy at great risk. 

The best way to dispel this pessimism and rebuild the trust is to first do a better job of communicating with parents and students about university life and the options available to them. We must pressure policymakers to make college more accessible by expanding federal grant programs and offering loan forgiveness programs for students who enter public service, commit to working in under served communities or enter fields where there are staffing shortages. And universities and colleges must begin to view themselves not as businesses their to earn a profit but as organizations designed to uplift students and – tomorrow’s workforce – and prepare them for the future.