Working Life

   I know we are shocked by this (via The Wall Street Journal–subscription): Overall, median total direct compensation for CEOs in the sample rose 3.0% during their latest fiscal year, as total shareholder return came in at 29%. Total direct compensation includes salary, bonuses and the awarded value of stock, options and other long-term incentives. […]

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   I’ve written extensively about greed and CEO pay, particularly in "The Audacity of Greed". So, I like to see the non-traditional press pick it up and stick with it. Here’s a piece by Michael Hiltzik in The Los Angeles Times, which is a follow up piece by him on Ray Irani of Occidental Petroleum: […]

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The raid on our country’s treasury has been underway for 30 years (and more). The corporate leaders have successfully drained our common wealth, shifting money away from the community and, instead, diverting it into the hands of a few. And now the din is growing for another robbery of the people to the tune of […]

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   Is anybody shocked by this?: For months, Wall Street banks and the troubled automakers feverishly protested that their top executives would flee if they were not lavishly rewarded for their talents. New data, however, suggests the departures were more of a trickle than a flood. Of the 104 senior executives whose pay was set […]

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   If we wonder why the average person thinks government is dysfunctional and too often doesn’t speak for the average person, here is another example (courtesy of The Wall Street Journal): The top regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is expected to announce millions of dollars in pay packages for top executives at the […]

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I want to try to make a subtle distinction here: between something that I’m glad is happening, on the one hand, and changes that fundamentally reshape economic power in the country, on the other hand. The first does not necessarily bring about the second. And it’s important, I would argue, for us to keep our […]

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   The financial newspapers are buzzing with the news of a coalition of business leaders stepping forward to propose executive compensation limits. I think this is only a secondary issue. Don’t get me wrong–I think the greed that has swamped the country at the executive suite level is astonishing. And it should be dealt with. […]

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   In today’s installment of The Audacity of Greed, we bring you the story of Andrew Hall: In a few weeks, the Treasury Department’s czar of executive pay will have to answer this $100 million question: Should Andrew J. Hall get his bonus? Mr. Hall, the 58-year-old head of Phibro, a small commodities trading firm […]

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   I always thought pay cap rules coming from Washington were more show than real. Earlier this year, I pointed out the weaknesses in the initial CEO pay cap rules. And, in fact, the new twist on this will cover a relatively few in the high-flying world of obscene CEO pay: The Obama administration’s sweeping […]

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   I like reading The Wall Street Journal because it often offers a bit of a chuckle. Like today: Wall Street reacted cautiously to talks by the Obama administration to overhaul pay practices at financial companies, worried about the specter of micromanagement but reluctant to fight back while the effort is at an early stage. […]

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