Bonuses are not tips: Why we'll stay mad at Wall Street

For many people on Wall Street, the rage generated by American International Group (NYSE: AIG)'s impressive bonuses was somewhat confusing. After all, while the insurer's position as a practical ward of the state makes its large payouts particularly upsetting, the fact is that bonuses are extremely common in the corporate world, and job applicants often regard them as a basic part of compensation.

To be honest, it's not as if alternate payment strategies are all that rare. Tips, for example, could be viewed as a sort of "performance bonus," presented to servers at the end of every meal. What's more, this structure encourages servers to maximize the quality of their service at each table. Similarly, numerous professions offer year-end bonuses to their employees, either in the form of cash, merchandise, or services. In so doing, they encourage employee loyalty and personal identification with the workplace.