STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): So, did you see this headline from The Washington Post? “Wall Street's average bonus in 2017? Three times what most U.S. households made all year.”
STUART VARNEY (FOX BUSINESS NETWORK): Look, the economy's doing very well. The stock market's doing very well, so you can expect executives in financial companies to get very nice bonuses. The left hates that, the left hates Wall Street, they hate capital. Frankly it, reminds me of living in socialist England. There's an element of jealousy here. “Whoa, you are doing so well, what about me you? You've got it, I want it, I'm taking it.”
AINSLEY EARHARDT (CO-HOST): It's the victim mentality.
VARNEY: The victim mentality. It's all wrong. It's so negative. Come on, we've got a great economy. A terrific stock market, until the past couple of months. Come on. We're all doing well. What is this endless complaining about people who are doing well?
EARHARDT: I don't think people realize until you live in New York City how families depend on those bonuses. They might not make a lot during the year and get that big bonus at the end of the year based on the work that they did over the past year. You work harder, you get a bigger bonus.
VARNEY: Bonuses are a big part of the pay, the overall pay, of financial executives. And it's an incentive program. Work hard, perform, you get a bigger bonus. Is there something wrong with that?
BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): Nothing. This could only be one valedictorian and sometimes it takes 40 years to become a CEO. We all want to get there, it doesn't mean we're jealous of people that are there. That's a program we want to get on. An escalator we want to board.
VARNEY: That's the American way of looking at things.
KILMEADE: Thought so.
VARNEY: Climb that food chain. Brains, drive, talent, ability; climb up there. Succeed. What's wrong with that? We're not Europe. We're not a socialist society where everyone's jealous of success.
