Hi, my name is John Smith and I make 476 times what my average worker makes!
In the midst of all the intense discussion regarding controlling government spending, wouldn’t it be fantastic to have a conversation about controlling soaring executive compensation rates?
On March 23, 2011 Public Citizen published a report entitled, “A Modest Essay on Extraordinary Paychecks.” Just this weekend, following the annual release of executive pay numbers, The New York Times penned an editorial on the same topic saying:
Rarely has the view from the corner office seemed so at odds with the view from the street corner. At a time when millions of Americans are trying to hang on to homes and millions more are trying to hang on to jobs, the chief executives of major corporations like 3M, General Electric and Cisco are making as much today as they were before the recession hit. Indeed, some are making even more.
Public Citizen has been actively involved in pushing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act AKA “Dodd-Frank.” This act contains many useful provisions. Section 953 B would require companies listed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to reveal how much their CEOs make in comparison to their average employees. Example: John Smith, CEO of Company X makes 427 times the average pay of company X workers.
Check back in with CitizenVox.org tomorrow to catch the release of the first in a series of “Two Cents” reports by Public Citizen. Through the Two Cents reports, you will be able to gain glimpses of the various ways that the financial industry is unethically influencing the Dodd-Frank act rule-making process and, insodoing, hurting the chances for any kind of meaningful financial sector reform.
p.s. Don’t forget if you haven’t already– tell Wall Street enough is enough!