Ben Stein generated some controversy with his column a few weeks back, alleging a conspiracy between Goldman Sachs' (NYSE: GS) economist and the firm's shorting of the mortgage market. Herb Greenberg called it "classic take-no-prisoners, grumpy Ben Stein."

In his latest take-no-prisoners, grumpy screed, Stein discusses Wall Street's massive breach of fiduciary duty: "The biggest of the big names were among the most aggressive in betraying their clients' trust, as I see it. Some of the biggest names were selling securities that they -- apparently -- barely understood themselves. In so doing, they exposed their buyers, and their stockholders, to immense losses. (Think Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and many others.) Other major players, including Goldman Sachs, were aggressively shorting the very same sort of products they were underwriting."

Of course, everyone makes mistakes -- and selling billions of dollars worth of securities you don't understand at all is a pretty big one.

But the problem as I see it as that these Wall Street firms that messed up badly aren't taking responsibility where it counts -- the pocketbook. Note to Stan O'Neal: a $160 million severance package isn't accountability. Wall Street bonuses soared this year, even as stock prices plummeted for most financials, a sure sign that, on average, Wall Street bonuses are not a reflection of value creation.

That's a big part of the problem that had led to massive unchecked risk-taking: No one making the bad decisions stands to lose much if they backfire.

"Heads we win, tails our bonuses still rise 14%" is not the way to run a public company, and investors should be outraged.