Last autumn, amid the maelstrom of the financial crisis, it seemed that fundamental change was afoot. “A new capitalism will emerge from the rubble”, declared the BBC's business editor, Robert Peston. And in the court of public opinion, driven to the point of fury by tales of huge bonuses in a failing banking sector, nowhere was this change more keenly sought than in the sphere of executive pay. Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, even suggested that failed but wealthy bankers should count themselves “lucky the British have no guillotines in stock”.
去年秋季，当金融危机肆虐之际，某种根本改革似乎正在酝酿之中。英国广播公司(BBC)商业编辑罗伯特•佩斯顿(Robert Peston)宣称：“碎石瓦砾中将走出一个新的资本主义”。而在民意法庭上，没有什么领域比高管薪酬更亟需改革了——濒临破产的银行业发放巨额奖金的消息已经引起群情激愤。自由民主党(Liberal Democrat)财政部发言人文斯•凯布尔(Vince Cable)甚至称，失败但富有的银行家应该“庆幸英国没有保留断头台制度”。