Comments on: Japan Airline’s CEO Slashes his Pay Below the Pay of Pilots http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/12/japan-airlines-ceo-slashes-his-pay-below-the-pay-of-pilots/ Macro Perspective on the Capital Markets, Economy, Geopolitics, Technology, and Digital Media Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:25:27 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: gszeto http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/12/japan-airlines-ceo-slashes-his-pay-below-the-pay-of-pilots/comment-page-1/#comment-131637 gszeto Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:15:54 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=12270#comment-131637 lots of talk about nationalized healthcare, the ongoing nationalization of wall street, and i propose (a nutso) nationalization of executive compensation: http://www.gongszeto.com/journal/2008/12/3/ethical-capitalism-20-towards-a-nationalized-executive-compe.html don't freak out too much - it's only a thought exercise. best, gong szeto lots of talk about nationalized healthcare, the ongoing nationalization of wall street, and i propose (a nutso) nationalization of executive compensation:

http://www.gongszeto.com/journal/2008/12/3/ethical-capitalism-20-towards-a-nationalized-executive-compe.html

don’t freak out too much – it’s only a thought exercise.

best,
gong szeto

]]> By: Fredex http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/12/japan-airlines-ceo-slashes-his-pay-below-the-pay-of-pilots/comment-page-1/#comment-131626 Fredex Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:26:17 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=12270#comment-131626 Yikes! Don't do that. Do you know what it's like to read, "Japan Airline’s CEO Slashes.." the first time through when you don't know how the sentence ends? Yikes! Don’t do that. Do you know what it’s like to read, “Japan Airline’s CEO Slashes..” the first time through when you don’t know how the sentence ends?

]]> By: constantnormal http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/12/japan-airlines-ceo-slashes-his-pay-below-the-pay-of-pilots/comment-page-1/#comment-131619 constantnormal Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:02:29 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=12270#comment-131619 It would seem that CEO abstention from bonuses (and in some cases, even salaries!) is gaining favor, perhaps we are seeing the pendulum swing back on the ratio of executive compensation to average employee compensation ... (see figure 3, p 58): http://faculty.chicagogsb.edu/workshops/AppliedEcon/archive/pdf/FrydmanSecondPaper.pdf Although for it to get back to the 50X-60X regime that we had up until the 1990s, that may take a while. In any event, prolly just another signpost on the way to the Twilight Zone, another indicator of how bent our economy has become. Ballooning debt, outa-control-leverage, and obscene executive compensation. I would not mind seeing legislation to tax the living daylights out of corporations that pay, and individuals that receive, executive compensation above 60X employee compensation in public companies, on an averaged basis over the prior 5-to-7 years. Prolly not worth the time to legislate, tho', as the corporation's legal and accounting resources would be diverted from the important business of the company's business to finding ways to shovel obscene amounts into deferred compensation plans, retirement plans, and golden parachutes. It would seem that CEO abstention from bonuses (and in some cases, even salaries!) is gaining favor, perhaps we are seeing the pendulum swing back on the ratio of executive compensation to average employee compensation …

(see figure 3, p 58):
http://faculty.chicagogsb.edu/workshops/AppliedEcon/archive/pdf/FrydmanSecondPaper.pdf

Although for it to get back to the 50X-60X regime that we had up until the 1990s, that may take a while.

In any event, prolly just another signpost on the way to the Twilight Zone, another indicator of how bent our economy has become. Ballooning debt, outa-control-leverage, and obscene executive compensation.

I would not mind seeing legislation to tax the living daylights out of corporations that pay, and individuals that receive, executive compensation above 60X employee compensation in public companies, on an averaged basis over the prior 5-to-7 years. Prolly not worth the time to legislate, tho’, as the corporation’s legal and accounting resources would be diverted from the important business of the company’s business to finding ways to shovel obscene amounts into deferred compensation plans, retirement plans, and golden parachutes.

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