LOL, Mav, that's actually funny. Super smart, super brave, superhero CEOs who deserve every penny of this country's wealth and lazy, dumb, cowardly, uneducated workers (95% of the country) who deserve absolutely nothing, who would not be able to put food on the table if it was not for incredible, unheard of generosity of selfless, risk taking, god-like CEOs. Nice spin Mav but the reality is slightly different. And even your fairytale does not explain why CEOs were paid 42 times the average hourly wage in 1980 and 20 years later they were making 531 times more. The risks were still the same, weren't they? And where does it end, Mav? When in not so distant future an average american wage is $3 hr people like you are still going to be claiming that lazy americans are making too much and that CEOs and Bill Gates' of the world are not getting their fair share of the american pie, aren't you?
take away the freedom that hope brings and put into place egalitarianism is not what you are possibly suggesting is it?. Getting that mileage out of the possibility of the thing is the essence of the energy of capitalism... Out of all political systems Capitalism extracts the ingredients of the human condition and all its productive possibilities better than the others. If you prefer suppression over capitlaism then I suggest you elaborate...
dooodooo... If you knew a Fortune 500 ceo or officer you wouldn't envy them. The path to being a CEO sucks putting it bluntly. IMO the money they make wouldn't be enough to satisfy me to the extent that I would have to alter my lifestyle outside of my present activities. Fortune 500 officers enjoy healthy compensation but they do it for the pride of being an officer of a well known company. That's before you consider the S-Ox legislation and CEO/CFO's having to certify the company's reports...PASS! Find something worthwhile to complain about. Work on the speck in your own eye.
lol it's kinda like trading OPM...if you can't take the fire then don't turn up the heat... I gotta say, Mav hit it...Damn that mav...
Do you seriously believe that if the top 5% own less than 95% of the country's wealth then it's egalitarianism? Are you saying that if a company pays their workers $1 hr and makes $100 mln in profits - it's capitalism but if it pays them $20 hr and "only" makes $95 mln in profits - it's socialism?
No I am saying by removing the lottery... you remove hope. The benefit of hope far exceeds the benefit of raising the minimum existence and keeping up with it. (there are truly poor people in the world that would be the richest beyond their imagination if they had the bottom 1% of the poorest persons income here in the USA) America is the best economy in the World and Capitalism is the best system on the Earth. As the birth of the Global economy sparks, the inequalities and the merging of beliefs, economies, currencies....etc merge into one, there will be a temporary windfall for some and a 'taking away' for others. I personally have lived and worked permanantly in Sweden under permission (Green Card) where half of my salary was deducted for taxes while I had to pay in excess of 25% sales tax on my purchases for the remaining half. My disposable income for luxuries was much lower in than the USA...granted I had a good life...but the hope of becoming financially independent was non existent. NOW LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING. Long term unemployment will destroy Socialistic Sweden if they do not listen to the economic advise that Ingvar Carlson previously received and sought after form the USA. thus you get the reform Sweden has seen in the last 10 years..where the USA for the life of me, wants to become like Sweden 10 years ago... There is always a politician crying wolf and expounding on a better way...but I will tell you folks Capitalism and America is the best place on earth and God knows I have a right to say that as I have lived in a few places on this globe other than just being a tourist, which I am thankful for. I am not brainwashed and have chosen America not only because its my birthplace, it is because I have hope for financial freedom here. There are people that are qualified as I am to disagree me with me and believe America is not their place and have no inclination to live here as we have been brainwashed to believe. So you armchair politicians and Eliteextremists....you do not have a clue and Capitalism is the best way...in my not so humble opinion....you prolly have never lived outside of America and do not realize how good you have it... Michael B.
I'd be VERY hesitant to accept those purported "numbers" without seeing an actual breakdown of compensation data. My guess is that the lions share of CEO comp is achieved through the exercise of stock options. Hence the dramatic leap in dollars the past 25 years. Obviously a Dow at 12,000 is a different story for execs than a Dow at 750. I'm way too Taleb to actually buy into the myth that a CEO creates 500x added value than anyone else on the payroll. It's MUCH harder to be Alex Rodriguez or LeBron James than it is to be Jack Welsh. However in business we're talking about guys whose livelihood is tied to their companies share price and often these executives elected to take risky deferred options in lieu of cash. In a bull market such risks are pure wisdom. In a bear market you'll see that CEO's have the same life expectancy as NFL head coaches coming off a 1-15 season. Such is life. I find liberals waste WAY too much energy worrying about what others are earning. That's a losers game. If one can make a valid contribution to an organization then compensation and reward will follow. If not, take your skills elsewhere. But bitching and whining about the banker in the house on the hill is demeaning. Christ it's a short life. Suck it up and in another 70 years you get to try it again.
Slightly changing the rules of the lottery is a far cry from removing it which I have never suggested. Do you really see things in black and white only or you're just pretending to be color-blind? According to you if it's not 100% "pure" capitalism - it's communism, if the price of the lottery ticket is slighly increased and the reward is slightly decreased - all hope is lost, if the rich own less than 95% of the country, it's egalatarianism...
Raising the minimum wage...or lowering taxes...or eliminating the classes...is really just the short term change to an existing system... How can I better myself right now? In America the sky is the limit ...in Sweden you can go to school under a government grant or loan and have to repay it after you get a better job, if they can find you...The increase in your wages amount to about 8%, ohhh...yes its all calculated... What I am discussing is the raw sperm of a system...Do you want to be so easily controlled by your government...? When I lived in Sweden I marveled at how their citizens blindly followed their government. They were taught Socialism from childhood....AND THEY BELIEVE IT IS THE BEST SYSTEM ON EARTH.....AND THE REST OF THE WORLD WILL COME AROUND TO THEIR POINT OF VIEW...Go figure... Michael B.
I find liberals waste WAY too much energy worrying about what others are earning. Actually liberals worry that the income of the working people is not growing and in many cases decreasing. The skyrocketing CEO compensation is simply an easy and convenient way to point out that this wage stagnation is not warranted. If one can make a valid contribution to an organization then compensation and reward will follow. LOL, I know that's what they teach in the 5th grade but at your age you don't really believe that any more, do you?