sethnintendo said:
I see your point with that article. What do you think about the CEO vs average worker salary in the past 30 years? Surely CEOs don't deserve that kind of percentage increase while leaving bread crumbs to the average worker. |
I think it's important to look at a company 30 years ago and a company today. In the last 30 years there have been a LOT of mergers, companies controlling affilaites etc.
A big complaint now is like "The same 20 companies own EVERYTHING".
I'd argue that being a CEO is far harder today then it was 30 years ago. Throw into that buisness being more complicated with many more facets (social media, interent making it hard to hide stuff)...
it's a lot harder to be a ceo now then it was 30 years ago. Companies could be 10-20 times bigger then they were back then.
Whether it's equal to the salary bump, i can't really say... which is sad, since it's something you'd expect MOST statistically minded people would think about.
In generally too I think other things aren't taken into account.
For example, the talent pool for a lot of jobs has increased. First off, more people are more educated then ever, which means that more people are available to work the same jobs, Secondly, women are way more active in the work force now then they were in the past. Which is great, but it's worth noting that the workforce has practically doubled because of it.
Additionally, the skill cap for a lot of jobs have dropped... I mean... imagine for example being a tax account 30 years ago, versus today. 30 years ago you MAYBE had an old time slow ass calculator, and a giant book of tax regulations.
Today it's all on the computer... and you can search a document on tax law pretty eaisly with something as simple as CTRL F.
Automization, and just mechanics that help make jobs easier etc.
There is a LOT more at play then people generally take into effect then people do. I couldn't really guess if it's a reasonable or unreasonable increase because of it. CEO is just a job that has a HIGH requirement level and skill level.... and in general requires some things that you aren't taught in school. All kinds of jobs like that seem to be exploding in pay. Like Proffesional Atheletes.
All they do is play a sport, but they get paid MILLIONS because they were born with a superior body constantly dedicate themsleves to be in the condition to play sports... and not many people can do it.
Put it all together and CEO's are probably still overpaid somewhat from 30 years ago.... but maybe not. I imagine the answer is soc lose that it doesn't really help either side, hence why nobody has attempted it.
Though it is also worth noting that CEO salaries started REALLY skyrocketing immedialty after we passed laws to cap CEO salaries. There is a 1 million dollar cap on "non-perfomance" based pay when it comes to CEO's as far as company taxation goes.
So that led to the rise of giving CEO's stock, or stock options. Which lead to CEO's generally making out like bandits for stock prices rising.
