How do you incentivize long-term thinking?

If a banker get a bonus because they had a good year, but they screwed the company for the next 3-4 years, then what good is that? On the other hand, who would accept a pay package that compensated 4-8 years later? Maybe that's what stock options are for. But then again, it may be easier for you to cook the books or do some rapid value extraction to boost the stock price artificially, rather than invest for the long-term.

The incentive-structure for founders and IPO kids, on the other hand, seems more ideal. Their window is 4-12 years before the real payday. In a normal or recession economy, these kids try to build a compelling product that blows everybody away. There aren't enough accounting hacks that can fill that gap. Unless of course, we're in a bubble economy.