One excellent comment on this post: Bill Churchill: If they earned it, it would be one thing. But American industry is not that far ahead of that of these other nations’ industries—which implies that this radical multiple has NOT been earned, but rather it has been mooched or looted. I have NO problem with innovative CEOs making “obscene” multiples if they earn it through innovations that contribute to the general welfare. Types like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs have earned their way through innovations that have created far more wealth for others than their comparatively measly multiples. My problem is with those who “earn it” by virtue of their ability to bully boards of directors through their connections to old boy networks and college fraternities. Wealth is created and sustained by contribution to the welfare of one’s fellows. To the extent that wealth “creation” becomes divorced from this contribution, the myriad little obligations that sustain a society begin to unravel. When this unravelling reaches a critical mass, social unrest is the inevitable result. Though patronage is always necessary in a well-functioning society, it behooves its grantors look well to how it is disbursed. They should never become lazy to the point of granting favor based solely on association and relationship, while ignoring virtue. Society runs on virtue and trade.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 16:43:32 +0000
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