While The Big Fall

Most consider the method in the madness of the current financial crisis to be the long overdue correction of Wall Street's greed, underhandedness and severely complex securityand investment formats. In some instances, however, the madness is just that.

In the midst of the Fed, Treasury Department, the Congress and the presidential candidates debating a workable bailout plan, the only issue that all parties seemed readily agreeable on is capping executive pay. Why, you may ask. Take an example: Washington Mutual's Alan Fishman, for example, made a neat sum of $19.1 mn for serving a period of three weeks. He gets to keep his sign on bonus of $7.5 mn and is eligible for $11.6mn in cash severance, according to New York-based James F. Reda and Associates. Of course, despite regulations to cap salaries such as the then President Clinton's effort in 1993, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns still managed to compensate their 185,687 workers with $66bn in 2007. As Dean Baker, co-director for the Washington-based Centre on Economic & Policy Research (and Democrat) was quoted, "Any executive who can't figure a way around these restrictions should be fired."

Lawyers and sex workers are the only two professionals who truly see an uptick in business during market downturns. And adding to Senator McCain's political enemies' ammo, his prime surrogate, Rudy Guiliani's law firm – Bracewell and Guiliani – is cashing in. On 26 September the firm announced a task force with deep connections in Washington and the Bush White House to steer decisions to the advantage of their broke, high profile clients who are willing to pay around $800 dollars for every hour of their lawyer's time.

Another company doing well, unlike its peers who are suffering a slowing market, is Ogilvy & Mather, a division of UK-based advertising giant WPP. Media companies in the US experienced the slowest growth since recession year 2001 (with revenues growing at 4.6 per cent). But on 27 September, at the time when Fed and Treasury Department pushed for the sale of the troubled bank while the government resisted the pressure to provide financial guarantees to the potential buyers, Wachovia Corporation – whose shares plunged 74 per cent this year – the bank awards its roughly $150mn advertising account to O&M. Sure, Wachovia is under great pressure to reassure its clients but questions arise on how much to spend on it when bankrupt.

And lastly, an instance that could be a true testimony to the intricate and interdependent financial web as it stands today. UK-based Songbird Estates has the rent payments of its largest tenant (they occupy over 1mn sq ft) in the main financial district of the city of London is insured. The same tenant accounted for 41.9 mn pounds of the 275.3 mn pounds or 15 per cent of Songbird's revenue in 2007 and has leased properties upto 2033. During these difficult times in Londons property landscape (prices are set to rise in November from 41pounds/sq ft annually to only 51pounds/sq ft) Songbird appeared to have composed itself a sweet melody. All good. Their shares, however, fell by 15 per cent on 16 September, the day after their largest tenant, that is, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy. The next day it was the turn of their insurance firm – American International Group (AIG).