In the midst of the current economic downturn, nicknamed the “Great Recession,” it is natural to look for a single entity or person to blame. Big bank managers, professional investors and federal regulators have all been fingered as potential architects of the recession, with varying degrees of blame. No matter who is to blame, the consequences of the mistakes made that led to the current crisis are clear. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the current unemployment rate is 9.7%, with 9.3 million Americans out of work (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Compared to a normal economic rate of 2-3%, it is clear that the decisions of a group of people have had a profound impact on the lives of millions of Americans. The real blame for this crisis falls on the heads of the managers who attempted to game the financial system through securitization and forced the American government to "save" their companies with taxpayers' money. These managers, particularly the managers of AIG and Citigroup, should be subject to extreme salary caps for the length of time the American taxpayer holds majority stakes in their companies, as punitive punishment for causing the Great Recession. Not only were millions of Americans put out of work as a result of the actions of these managers, the American financial markets themselves were pushed to the brink of collapse. Despite the fact that global financial markets are, in reality, not perfectly efficient, there is a corrective mechanism built into the day-to-day trading of the market. When prices are pushed down by large sell-offs, either by large investors or by a movement in a stock, there are usually new buyers for these stocks at the cheapest price. Managers of... half of the paper...ssion, to use them as an example for risk taking on Wall Street. Works Cited Axelson, Ulf and Sandeep Baliga. “Liquidity and Manipulation of Executive Compensation Systems.” Review of Financial Studies 22.10 (2009): 3907-3939. EconLit. EBSCO. Network. January 24, 2010. Office of Labor Statistics. “January 2010 Unemployment Statistics.” February 5, 2010. Bureau of Labor Statistics. February 8, 2010 .Dew-Becker, Ian. "How Much Sunlight Does It Take to Disinfect a Boardroom? A Brief History of Executive Compensation Regulation in America." CESifo Economic Studies 55.3-4 (2009):434-457. EconLit. EBSCO. Network. January 24, 2010. Kandel, Eugene. “Seeking reasonable executive compensation.” CESifo Economic Studies55.3-4 (2009): 405-433. EconLit. EBSCO. Network. January 24. 2010.