Hoisted from the Comments: Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

I think Bailout Blogger might be onto something here:

BailoutBlogger has left a new comment on your post "Two Quick Cents' Worth on the Bonuses":

It's 3/08. Things are starting to look really bad at AIG FP. Is entering into a bizarrely risk-insensitive comp arrangement never before seen in a trading organization a pure cash-shovel to insiders before the end comes or a desperate but good-faith attempt to stem departures and save the organization? That's the factual issue that is fought out by smart lawyers in the courtroom of my dreams.

If I read this right, he's saying: might have seemed like a good idea at the time: ex ante as distinct from ex post, as the law professors love to say. Seems to me a tenable position might even be right but I wouldn't want to be the one assigned it to an angry mob armed with pitchforks and rotten vegetables.