Comments on: Quinnipiac: 81% Of Americans Want Executive Pay Caps

By: Melissa Herrst

Melissa Herrst — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:22:40 +0000

I think that we should impose a wage cap for all companies. The highest paid person should not make more than 10 times the lowest paid person. So if the lowest paid person makes 20,000 then the highest paid person can’t make more than 200,000. If the lowest paid person makes 30,000 then the highest paid person can’t make more than 300,000. This would include any money that would be reported on a W2 or a 1099. I think this is extremely fair.

By: Mike A.

Mike A. — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:36:31 +0000

I agree with gerryf. The system is currently being gamed. There is complicity between the bod and the ceo. Both are becoming rich at the expense of the employees and shareholders. If you replace the ceo, there is the potential to restructure the bod. If you restructure the bod, there’s the possibility to replace the ceo….Nobody gives a crap about the shareholder.

I don’t agree with caps on compensation as a solution to this problem. I see it as a knee-jerk (populist) reaction to a systemic issue. Unfortunately it may be more politically expedient to enact caps rather than address the root cause.

By: gerryf

gerryf — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 02:52:52 +0000

We don’t need wage caps…we need corporation law reform that ensures that the system isn’t gamed.

When corporations were first enacted, the idea was that a board of directors, acting on behalf of the owners (shareholders), hired an executive to manage the day to day operations, while the board set long term policy.

What we have now is hundreds of professional directors who are brought in by the CEOs, and no one really gives a crap about the shareholders beyond molifying them with dividends and screw the long term health of the company because all these CEOs and boardmembers will move on to another firm next year.

When the “professional” manager replaced the owner, it was the beginning of the end.

By: Simon

Simon — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:01:13 +0000

I agree with a couple of points in the post: it’s populist outrage and legislation is probably the wrong response. Let me preemptively point out, however, that one does not defend or support ridiculous levels of executive pay by observing that the federal government (or any government, for that matter) should not impose wage caps. Quite apart from the immediate practical and economic impacts, to allow such caps concedes an important premise that will result in later mischief: that there is a legitimate role for government in deciding how much money is too much money for one person to earn.

By: Jimmy the Dhimmi

Jimmy the Dhimmi — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:53:06 +0000

it would have been nice to tie executive compensation to real performance instead of perceived.

How about if your company fails, you go bankrupt and lose your job? Oh, wait. Sorry, this is America. The government will bail you out, decide who will be hired for the job and control the type of products you can produce.