And, as the crisis initially spread from a collapse in the value of subprime mortgages in the US, the issue of bonuses is therefore considered more of a US and European problem.

BBC: Bonus reform: country by country

You see the same corporate behavior happen around the time companies issue annual bonuses, and I will tell you there are few things more insulting and aggravating, from a financial perspective, than being laid off right before bonuses are issued.

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The bonuses issue concerns the most senior managers between 2007 - 2011.

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Worse, some are wondering how well the relatively inexperienced Mr Obama would fare with a full-blown crisis given his wobbles over a minor issue such as bonuses.

ECONOMIST: The row over bonuses: Rumbling on | The

He said -- he talked about this issue of the bonuses, that they were looking at it from a legal term, but that Treasury wasn't looking at it from a moral or ethical sort of -- sort of through a moral or ethical -- didn't get the exact quote -- from a moral and ethical aspect.

WHITEHOUSE: White House Press Briefing: March 20,2009

As this suggests, the issue of bankers and bonuses doesn't divide neatly along party lines.

BBC: Wall street sign

The issue of bankers' bonuses could spark a lively debate after the EU agreed a provisional deal to cap bonuses at one year's salary, despite strong opposition from the UK, which hosts Europe's biggest financial services centre.

BBC: Eurozone confident on Cyprus bailout

Regardless of whether your firm embraces a meritocracy, a tenure based system, a highly sophisticated compensatory system, or some form of a benevolent dictatorship, bonuses are always an issue.

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Without getting into the issue of whether the people at AIG deserved those bonuses or not, I think what the markets focused on was the potential for a complete unraveling of our economic system.

FORBES: Round Table