Comments on My Open Wallet: Bail-out Bankers' Compensation

I don't think there's any hope of this changing. ...

2010-01-22T19:26:24.730-05:00

I don't think there's any hope of this changing. The small group of people who control our money supply is too powerful.

Heya Jim, Not a troll, but I was definitely joking...

2010-01-06T17:11:40.710-05:00

Heya Jim,
Not a troll, but I was definitely joking... Simply to highlight the absurdity of the current situation. In a parallel, less corrupt version of our world, we would have an enormous middle class right now, and that would be a very good thing.

Optioned Unarmed, it's kind of ridiculous to say e...

2010-01-06T14:10:28.707-05:00

Optioned Unarmed, it's kind of ridiculous to say exorbitant executive pay is "absolutely necessary." True, the benefits of increased productivity have to go somewhere, but even if you accept that workers shouldn't be reaping those benefits, I would still argue that shareholders (you know, the owners of public companies) should take priority over a few executives massing hordes of cash.

And that's ignoring the obvious question of why increased executive salaries wouldn't have the same result you're saying larger worker salaries have. Are you arguing that executives are immune to your proposed undesirable effects of having the "flexibility to work significantly less and still make ends meet"?

I wonder if I'm just feeding a troll.

“Over the last 50 years, the ratio of top pay to a...

2010-01-05T22:47:43.175-05:00

“Over the last 50 years, the ratio of top pay to average pay at public companies has multiplied roughly 11 times (24:1 to 275:1). That’s more pay in one workday for the chief executive than his average employee makes in a year.”

Look, I know it doesn’t seem fair, but this is absolutely necessary. In the past couple decades, productivity gains have been enormous. New technologies have resulted in much more work being done with less effort than ever before. Meanwhile, the benefits of this increased productivity have to go somewhere. And while the high-paid executives are not, in general, working any harder than they were before (and are possibly working less hard), it still makes sense for them to be the primary beneficiaries. If these gains instead went to workers in the form of increased salary, regular workers would make a lot more money, or they would have the flexibility to work significantly less and still make ends meet. Obviously, this is not a desirable outcome, for many reasons.

You hit the nail on the head with the word "infuri...

2010-01-05T10:58:14.042-05:00

You hit the nail on the head with the word "infuriating".