Here in the U.S., we’ve certainly witnessed our fair share of anger over the bonus structure currently in place in the finance industry. After last year’s hasty first round of bailouts, and the subsequent fallout over much of that money being used for bonuses, golden parachutes, and other forms of superfluous cash-buttressing, Americans were clearly ready for some decisive reform. Europe, similarly, has called for a change in “bonus culture” since the collapse began in earnest around this time last year.

Still keen on keeping some sense of laissez-faire, the United States and Great Britain have been tepid on the idea of hard and fast bonus regulation, whereas Germany and France have “demanded a tough line,” according to an article in The Economist. The tough thing about this issue is that bonuses can be taxed at higher rates than the baseline salaries of high-earning bankers.

In response to any global policies curtailing bonus culture, the big banks of the world will likely raise salaries to ensure the best talent doesn’t simply set up shop in a country capable of providing bigger bonuses. In any case, the challenge will be to keep tax revenue flowing in from the bigger earners, whether that means a change in the tax code, or simply more aggressively taxing whatever bonuses do get passed out. Needless to say, it will likely be a while before anti-bank sentiment dies down worldwide.

[image via Gregory Warran]

Geithner made a similar trip to China in May, reassuring the Chinese government as to the strength and resilience of the dollar. However, Saudi Arabia represents a country with different leverage on the world stage, given that it provides the greatest percentage of the world’s oil and represents the Arab world’s most advanced economy.

Even though Saudi Arabia instituted its own fiscal stimulus in response to last year’s global financial meltdown, “analysts said it was expected that Mr. Geithner would hope to persuade the kingdom to increase its contribution to the International Monetary Fund to help it support economies hardest hit by the financial crisis.”

At this year’s G-20 summit, over $750 billion was pledged to the I.M.F. to help shore up poorer nations hit hard by the collapse in credit markets, but more funding will be needed in the coming years. In a December 2008 article in the Financial Times, journalist Abeer Allam reported that “Saudi Arabia faces daunting social and economic challenges, with the largest population in the Arab Gulf, high unemployment and a growing lower-income population” – problems which echo those of the United States and other developed Western nations.

It remains to be seen whether the power structure in Saudi Arabia will heed the call to contribute more to the International Monetary Fund, but it’s safe to say that that decision hinges on the country’s confidence in the strength of the dollar.