Outrage about the $165 million in bonuses paid to executives at AIG may just be the tip of the iceberg. There are many more important concerns in the minds of public that have real ramifications for national policy and for those at the highest levels of politics and finance - reports Forbes.

U.S. taxpayers are being “forced” to accept that those people who brought AIG down should now be rewarded with (exponential) bonuses, just because only they can dis-entangle the mess they have made. If they were not given bonuses, they would join rivals of AIG, where they could use their knowledge of AIG and work against its interests, and hence those of the taxpayers (who now own 80% of the company). (In fact, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo found that some people who got the bonuses have already left AIG.)

To the average person, this sounds like blackmail, or at the least an example of rewarding failure. If this is indicative of the world of high finance, then its players have a real ethical problem. Is there no sense on Wall Street of acting for the greater good?

People are very worried about the U.S. economy. This week, 45% of respondents in a CNN survey said another depression is likely. Maybe those AIG executives have the same fears and want to cash in before the crash. The Obama administration says it couldn’t force AIG to not give the bonuses, and Congress is now working on some way to retrieve the money. Outrage may feel good, but it has no value if not directed toward a solution to the bigger problem.

For now, the possibility of future government bailouts is diminished, while the probability of more regulation of banks and investment has increased. That will be part of the price Wall Street will pay for too many years of putting short-term gain ahead of long-term sustainability.

Of course, as in the markets, there are no sure things in politics. Maybe President Obama’s powers of persuasion will convince voters that more must be spent to shore up the banking system. Maybe we will get a quicker than expected recovery that stabilizes markets and shields the middle class from high levels of unemployment. Then, pressure for new regulations would ease up, and changes wouldn’t be very drastic.

But that is all just speculation, and that is what got us into the mess we are in now…