Article: Economist Stiglitz blames crunch on 'flawed' City bonuses system

The Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has blamed the "unconscionable" system of generous bonuses paid to investment bankers for exacerbating the global credit crisis.

"The system of compensation almost surely contributed in an important way to the crisis," said Professor Stiglitz, a former chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, under Bill Clinton. "The system was designed to encourage risk taking - but it encouraged excessive risk taking. In effect, it paid them to gamble. When things turned out well, they walked away with huge bonuses. When things turn out badly - as now - they do not share in the losses."

Despite the turmoil in the markets, bank failures and ...

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