Quote of the Week

“Many overseas studies show crime and health statistics tend to be worse in countries that tolerate extremes of income inequality. If the minimum wage provides society with a decent floor, a maximum wage would arguably do the same thing at the top, and create a ceiling that would be within sight of all of us.”
Gordon Campbell, What about a maximum wage?, The Wellingtonian (New Zealand), March 11, 2010

Stat of the Week

Corporations are now busily reporting CEO pay totals for 2009, but take those totals with a grain of salt, cautions the Wall Street Journal. The figures now getting released value stock awards at the time of their grant. Actual rewards can run far higher. One example: Occidental Petroleum CEO Ray Irani took “expected pay” for 2008 originally valued at $58.3 million. His actual “realized” pay for the year: $222.6 million.

Greed at a Glance

A quick update on avarice in America and beyond: The jobless who have Corporate America’s sympathies . . . Why hedge fund managers seem to be exceedingly happy these days . . . Why the Welsh think they’ve found a key secret to happiness . . . The cluelessness of deficit hawks.

Executive Pay Scorecard

Top media outlets and business researchers annually release compensation surveys that detail executive pay levels over the preceding year. These surveys seldom sample the same corporations — or measure pay the exact same way — and, consequently, almost always generate somewhat different results. We sum up the top national and regional survey results here.