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Executive Pay and Corporate Failure
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Executive Pay and Corporate Failure

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One of the reasons for income inequality in the United States is the skyrocketing pay of corporate executives, even when their companies are not doing well.  At the same time, the wages of workers are on the decline. We hear what goes on in corporate boardrooms and what it means for the economy. Also, President Obama pushes his jobs bill in a White House news conference. On Reporter's Notebook, the US and the digital world have lost an icon. We look at the extraordinary contribution of Steve Jobs, who died yesterday at the age of 56.

Banner image: Countrywide Financial headquarters in Calabasas, California. Photo by David McNew/Getty Images

Making News

President Obama Pushes His Jobs Bill in WH News Conference ()

At a White House news conference today, President Obama felt comfortable the Senate Democrats' plan for a surtax on millionaires to help pay for his jobs plan. He conceded that Republicans in Congress aren't likely to go along, but insisted that his proposals ought to be embraced by Republicans because the bill "reflects those ideas that have traditionally been supported by both Democrats and Republicans." Jamie Tarabay is White House editor for the National Journal.

 

 

 

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Main Topic

What Do Climbing Executive Salaries Mean for the Rest of Us? ()

In recent years, compensation for corporate executives has quadrupled in constant dollars while pay for wage-earners has been steadily going down. That's true even for CEO's whose companies are not delivering for their shareholders. Shareholders in one of America's largest biotech firms lost three percent of their investments in 2010, seven percent overall in five years. Amgen was closing plants and trimming the work force from 20,000 to 17,400. Chief Executive Kevin Sharer had been making $15 million a year, with perks that included two corporate jets. We hear that corporate boards of directors determine executive pay based not on performance but on what other companies pay their executives. What did that have to do with the collapse of the economy?  How dangerous are America's growing gaps in wealth and income?

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Reporter's Notebook

Remembering Steve Jobs ()

Millions around the world are mourning the death of Steve Jobs last night at the age of 56. President Obama said he was "bold enough to believe he could change the world and talented enough to do it." In his now-famous 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University, Jobs reminded, "You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma whatever, because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even if it leads you off the well worn path, and that will make all the difference." Andrew Blum, correspondent for Wired magazine, looks back at his extraordinary career and accomplishments.

 

 

 

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