CEO compensation is currently trending away from Golden Parachutes and fixed compensation and more toward performance based reward formulas, which will correct the relatively recent mistakes over a reasonable period of time. That was a glitch, and the market is correcting it. It has had more of a psychological effect than any real effect on compensation downstream.
The ideal world that Phil speaks of and NW Ponderer elaborates upon presupposes that everyone in society is contributing according to their abilities with equivalent effort, and that they are making the most prudent decisions with their resources and income. This is the fly in the magical ointment.
No, that is your view of the issue, not mine. My world takes into account that each of us is flawed, sometimes do stupid things and make mistakes. Sometimes we even just flake out and are non-productive.
There is a bell curve of effort that we all fall into - with the 600 pound fat guy who is stuck in his bed on the left side and the brain surgeon/professor/philanthropist/mountain climber on his way to provide free services to aborigines on the right side.
Likewise, there is a bell curve of prudence, with the debt ridden compulsive shopper on the left side and the miserly old man with millions 'in the bank' who is wearing shoes with cardboard insoles to keep out the wet on the right side.
CEOs and the homeless are outliers, and can be ignored for all intents and purposes.
The bulk of us are somewhere in the middle of both curves.
Please explain to me why hard working prudent people need to share with less hard working less prudent people so everybody can be more equalized.
I didn't say anything about being equalized, I just said that the emphasis on success distorts the community. My own view is that there is a base minimum that everyone is entitled to no matter whther they work, strive, save or not. If you want more than that go for it, just don't lay a trip on me for not.
Phil is right about this: in the end we are all equal. In fact, I can now say that I have achieved my lifelong ambition of being able to sing as well as Robert Goulet.
You missinterpreted my statement. What I meant is that when we die none of this makes any difference at all.
