Dec 1 2011: So many of these high flying CEO's drive their companies in to the ground and get massive severance packages. They act like entitled psychotics. One CEO of a company I worked at used to bring a live grenade in to board meetings. Another CEO I knew bought his friends worthless company for $440m then increased his compensation to deal with his new responsibilities.
American Airlines, GM, Chrysler, BofA, Citigroup - All companies that paid their CEOs > $100m to destroy their companies. And the shareholders got screwed. Any company where the CEO is paid more than 10 times the average salary has been corrupted.
Again I want to stress this does not include the folks who create their own company - Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry Elison etc.
Nov 29 2011: I believe the revolution was opportunism. I am glad that it happened, I dont think the USA would have done as well as part of the British empire which was far from a meritocracy. But as I said that is a long and complicated debate.
Here are the FACTS about the top tax rate
1918 ->top tax rate was 77% And the following decade was the roaring twenties
1929->top tax rate reduced to 24% And the following decade was the depression
There was negative growth in the USA until the year after top tax rates were increased to 63%
From 1944-1963 Rates were over 90% and we had the golden age
But in 1970 top tax rates were reduced from 77% to 70% and suddenly the USA got stagflation, we lost our first war (Vietnam), we could no longer go to the moon.
Reagan dropped them again and we had a debt crisis.
Bush Sr and Clinton raised the top tax rate and we got the booming 90s.
Then Bush Jr reduced them and well... you know what happened.
I rest my case.
If I must provide the last word let it be shibboleth
Nov 27 2011: The causes of the revolution are not exactly what teachers say they were... but that's another debate and a long one.
However I am not talking unrestrained taxation and certainly not taxation without representation.
The USA's greatest growth in wealth and its greatest achievements were all when it had top tax rates of 90%. We beat the Nazis and became a super power and held off the commies and put a man on the moon when top tax rates were 90%. It was only in the 70s when we dropped our top tax rates that we suddenly found ourselves unable to achieve great things. We lost our first war, we could not go back to the moon, we began to slide.
We have been fooled in to thinking that lower tax rates encourage growth but history shows exactly the opposite is true.
Nov 27 2011: I disagree. I think taxation can be used to keep the competition alive. Especially estate taxes. And those taxes pay for welfare which needs to be provided with intelligence as well as compassion.
The natural end point of unrestrained capitalism is plutocracy.
Nov 27 2011: The problem is the hierarchical view of management. I have a team of experts and I hired a college grad to manage us. Our manager is not our superior she just tracks our task list, calendar and communications.
There are maybe 0.1% of tech folks capable of doing the tasks my team does but 5% of the population can manage them. In the past managers insisted on more pay, privileges and then end up treating their team like inferiors. A sense of entitlement just grows within them.
Nov 27 2011: Yes, I believe inequity is a problem as well as corruption. But a healthy competition is good. What I hate is the obsequious deference to those born to money to such an extent that they are given positions they are not capable of. Then they get rewarded based on the strength of their connections rather than the strength of their work.
Nov 26 2011: I am not against people being rich. Money as a motivator works which greases the wheels of the economy. I am not against capitalism, I am against the corruption of capitalism which stops innovation and wealth creation. We should strive for a meritocracy that is compassionate. That would allow us to pursue happiness effectively.
Nov 22 2011: As a lowly employee I was once granted an audience with the CEO for lunch. I presented him with a document detailing flaws in an upcoming product release but he refused to take it saying "Are you joking? Give it to your manager. Which I did. The product was released and the flaws destroyed the company.
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A comment on Conversation: On average are the CEO's of the top 100 companies worth their salary?
American Airlines, GM, Chrysler, BofA, Citigroup - All companies that paid their CEOs > $100m to destroy their companies. And the shareholders got screwed. Any company where the CEO is paid more than 10 times the average salary has been corrupted.
Again I want to stress this does not include the folks who create their own company - Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry Elison etc.
A reply on Conversation: On average are the CEO's of the top 100 companies worth their salary?
Here are the FACTS about the top tax rate
1918 ->top tax rate was 77% And the following decade was the roaring twenties
1929->top tax rate reduced to 24% And the following decade was the depression
There was negative growth in the USA until the year after top tax rates were increased to 63%
From 1944-1963 Rates were over 90% and we had the golden age
But in 1970 top tax rates were reduced from 77% to 70% and suddenly the USA got stagflation, we lost our first war (Vietnam), we could no longer go to the moon.
Reagan dropped them again and we had a debt crisis.
Bush Sr and Clinton raised the top tax rate and we got the booming 90s.
Then Bush Jr reduced them and well... you know what happened.
I rest my case.
If I must provide the last word let it be shibboleth
A reply on Conversation: On average are the CEO's of the top 100 companies worth their salary?
A reply on Conversation: On average are the CEO's of the top 100 companies worth their salary?
However I am not talking unrestrained taxation and certainly not taxation without representation.
The USA's greatest growth in wealth and its greatest achievements were all when it had top tax rates of 90%. We beat the Nazis and became a super power and held off the commies and put a man on the moon when top tax rates were 90%. It was only in the 70s when we dropped our top tax rates that we suddenly found ourselves unable to achieve great things. We lost our first war, we could not go back to the moon, we began to slide.
We have been fooled in to thinking that lower tax rates encourage growth but history shows exactly the opposite is true.
A reply on Conversation: On average are the CEO's of the top 100 companies worth their salary?
The natural end point of unrestrained capitalism is plutocracy.
A reply on Conversation: On average are the CEO's of the top 100 companies worth their salary?
There are maybe 0.1% of tech folks capable of doing the tasks my team does but 5% of the population can manage them. In the past managers insisted on more pay, privileges and then end up treating their team like inferiors. A sense of entitlement just grows within them.
A reply on Conversation: On average are the CEO's of the top 100 companies worth their salary?
A reply on Conversation: On average are the CEO's of the top 100 companies worth their salary?
A comment on Conversation: On average are the CEO's of the top 100 companies worth their salary?
http://www.businessinsider.com/worst-ceos-ever-2009-6
I once bought shares in a company and in that year they hired a new CEO gave him $700m then fired him. That year the company declared a loss of $300m.
I have met many CEOs and have yet to meet a genius but I work side by side with genius every day.