I’ve got to tell you – I’m a little mixed about this whole Wells Fargo thing.

People are having a lot of fun right now waggling their fingers at corporate overspending.  The Germans (who have a word for everything – remember Fahrvergnugen?) have a word for this kind of fun:  Schadenfreude, or delighting in somebody else’s misfortune.

And yes, it’s fun to point and laugh at people like John Thain, driving their companies into multibillion-dollar nosedives while buying $1400 wastecans and $35,000 antique toilets.

But Wells Fargo’s supposed sin is quite different.

In case you haven’t heard, they’ve taken quite a flogging in the press and in Congress for planning to fly their top people to Vegas for a big recognition event after receiving bailout money.

Sure, the planned event was pretty lavish – just the latest in a long Wells Fargo tradition that has included wine-tasting trips, helicopter junkets, and even a private Jimmy Buffett concert in the Bahamas for a thousand employees.  The Vegas trip was to include twelve days and nights on the Strip.

Now it’s been called off.

So why are my feelings mixed?  (more…)