Things will be allowed to be stable again in America only when executive pay is restored to its ludicrous bubble value. Writes Felix Salmon: "People who were comfortable with seven- and eight-figure salaries a couple of years ago have a natural tendency to want to return to the status quo ante; the rest of us see a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring executive pay down to the kind of levels which normal human beings can relate to. Given that the pay levels of old clearly did no good and colorably did a great deal of harm, that doesn't sound like an unreasonable request. But there aren't any mechanisms in place to make it happen...." And who will benefit? Actually, the government, because of tax income: "The government's interests, then, are naturally aligned with those of the plutocrats-and when that happens, the chances of change naturally drop to zero." What's most amazing is that Tim Geithner has been pretty direct about this! "You cannot address those long-term deficits, you cannot put the government of the United States in a position that we can go back to living within our means, unless you repair the damage done to this economy and to its revenue base." Right. The only "damage" done to the economy itself is a halt in the flood of massive amounts of revenue to really rich people. Everything else, from the housing market to unemployment, and you-that's just collateral damage.