I find the salaries / bonuses of investment bankers fairly obscene, certainly compared to nurses / doctors / teachers / etc etc etc… but the reality of our free market economy is these people are extremely good at what they do (making profit for their employers & shareholders) and if the market dictates that's what they need to be paid then that is how it will be.
Alternatives? Well Stalin and Lenin had some great ideas, but in practice…..?
And as for the "should have let the banks fail" attitudes – really? So tell me how things would function if a couple of the main clearing banks had gone under?
Again, my leanings have always been (very) slightly left of centre, and I find the renumeration of top bankers grossly exessive, but I don't see any current alternative.