"We can presume that the senior executives of the banks that have received TARP funds who are paid more than $500,000 annually are worth at least that much to their employers. Otherwise the employers would be violating their fiduciary duties to their shareholders by paying those salaries."
We certainly can't presume that. These executives are their own employers, sit on each other's boards and grant themselves billions of dollars in cash and stock. That's part of the problem.