Letters: Executive Pay, Revisited

Executive Pay, Revisited

To the Editor:

Re “We Knew They Got Raises. But This?” (July 3), which offered updated figures on executive pay packages for 2010:

Having spent my entire working career in the elementary classroom, I know little about the business world other than what I read in the newspaper. Still, I must wonder whether any C.E.O.’s are worth the pay and bonuses they receive. Sure, in the competitive world of business, a skilled executive should draw more than those who work for him or her, but why do the awards have to be so astronomical?

As a retired California teacher, my pension is modest. Yet I have no complaints: this monthly retirement pay allows me to pay the rent, put food on the table. As skilled as C.E.O.’s must be in management, I wonder if any of them could manage a class of 32 active third graders, keep order, promote learning, teach how to behave and treat others fairly while maintaining his or her sanity in front of the class? Barney Scott

Spring Valley, Calif., July 3

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To the Editor:

There is a simple solution to the problem of executive pay that would also help balance the federal budget.

Not that long before Reaganomics, the highest income tax rate in the United States was in the area of 90 percent. If we now instituted a top rate of, say, 75 to 80 percent, adjusted downward for lower earners, we would not only raise badly needed government revenue but would also put an end to excessive executive pay.

Why? No corporate board would approve disproportionately high compensation while knowing that most of the money would go to the I.R.S. Corporate managers would consider that wasteful — such is the psychology of many of the wealthy.

Runaway executive pay inflation is a fairly recent phenomenon, born of irresponsible tax cuts. Sound tax policy effectively curbs excesses while creating a prosperous society through public benefits.

Gretchen Kaapcke

Santa Fe, N.M., July 4

To the Editor:

My daughter just completed four years of college, graduating with honors. She is one of many graduates seeking employment in this difficult economy. I wonder if any of these extremely well-paid executives would consider giving up some $1 million or $2 million of their pay packages and creating a few entry-level jobs for these young people needing a break.

Such amounts from the executives’ huge paychecks would surely not be missed. Cheryl Williams

Manila, July 4

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To the Editor:

According to the theory of trickle-down economics, all of those at the bottom of the economic ladder now have something to cheer about: the steep climb in the pay of our high-end corporate leaders.

Those executives had a median pay gain of 23 percent in 2010, so if the trickle-down idea works, there will surely be plenty to trickle down to all of us. Or, instead, has our economic system evolved from a shared-wealth society into one that benefits the few at the top, while the rest, including many recent public employees, are humiliated by having their pensions, health care benefits, and salaries reduced or frozen by government edict? Morris Roth

Fort Lee, N.J., July 3

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=6cc1f87fdfade741585078f3ab372954