Feinberg on "what is life worth"

Ken Feinberg is in the public eye right now as he is the pay czar governing the compensation policies of bailed out companies from the crisis of last year. I had little knowledge about who he was till he was appointed for this post.
Then, I started doing some research. Found out that he had a role much more significant and impactful than what he has now- he was the person responsible for determining compensation for victims of the 9/11 attack. he had sweeping powers. On Sept 22, 11 days after the brutal attack, Congress passed a hastily created bill that sought to compensate the families of victims of the 9/11 attack. How much compensation, to who, the criterion to be used- all of this was left deliberately vague and the sole person responsible to execute on this- from design, to implementation was Ken Feinberg.
He has written a fascinating account of that journey in a book appropriately titled "What is life worth" as essentially, that is what he had to determine when he was decided how the families needed to be compensated. The book describes how it changed Feinberg as a person as he saw not just how people dealt with sorrow and loss, it also opened his eyes to vastly different perspectives on what was considered "enough" to live well.
It is a book that is well written, thought provoking and something that clearly changed the author's perspective on life in general.
A great read and well worth a skim at the very least. Given that experience if not anything else, I think he is uniquely qualified to be the Pay Czar for the bailed out companies. If he could assess what lives were worth, surely the worth of jobs is a walk in the park!

Back after a long layoff

I have not written for some time. I have been off blogging for a while for a bunch of different reasons. One- too much going on at work. Two- two little kids that I'm happy to spend all my free time with. Three- traveling back to India and the just the preparation to go there and be back at work. Its been hectic, but extremely rewarding.
First of all, the economy in general and financial services industry in particular, seems to be seeing some stability. While the credit charge-offs remain high, they are trending downward and thats a good sign. Unemployment still remains worrisome, and until that shows signs of coming down, there will be always be the over-hang of the recession. Dick Bove, the banking analyst I respect a lot, today went on record to say that housing has bottomed out- that is a strong statement to make and even if there is a modicum of truth in that, there is hope.
Secondly- it seems the general American consumer is saving more and while that is not good for the retail industry, I think it is a good healthy turn of behavior. Americans have been living way beyond their means for too long and if this crisis leads to a higher personal savings rate, I would consider that a happy outcome.
Lastly- the long hiatus I was on saw us lose the king of pop in the most bizarre circumstances. Whatever the nature of his personal life and the manner of his death, he will remain, for me, one of the greatest writers and musicians of all time. Some of the lyrics- Black or White and Heal the World being two of my favorites, are a great commentary on the world we live in and what it needs.
I am hoping to write a little more regularly for the rest of the year and keep the thoughts going- from politics, to sports to entertainment.
Till then...