Spread the wealth

[emayer]

Just playing devil's advocate here to represent free market forces and American capitalism on which this country is founded....

Are you saying that supply and demand should not dictate salaries?

Do you prefer that companies be managed like Ford, GM, Chrysler, Lucent, Bethlehem steel etc?

While the American auto industry is choking under the weight of inefficiency, pension/healthcare costs, unions, etc. and are now looking for a bailout from the good 'ol American taxpayer, Porsche handed out a roughly $1500 additional bonus to every employee this year.  BTW, Wiedeking has a generous salary package too- (though weighted toward stock options).

I'm not arguing that plenty of CEO packages are pillaging shaky companies, one need look no further than the financial industry. By the same token, generous salaries should not be discouraged if market forces support this.  Most of these companies are publicly traded and have oversight...

Perhaps the best model is to have CEO compensation linked directly to corporate performance, though this must be pursued with caution lest they attempt short-term gains at the long-term expense of the company.  We are not privy to Merck's employee compensation, but in principle employee's should be able to reap some of the benefits of a company performing well (perhaps they are already)....