June 26th, 2008

SoundBytes 147: Are American CEOs Overpaid?

Posted in  Government  Politics  SoundBytes podcasts 
Author: SoundBytes || Location: Lewisville, Texas, USA

Are American CEOs Overpaid?

The Institute for Policy Innovation’s Dr. Merrill Matthews says take a look at American athletes.

Steven Malanga of the Manhattan Institute recently asked how fairly is income distributed in major league sports.

Turns out, not so fair.

For the total U.S. population, the top 20 percent of households makes 51 percent of total family income.

But Malanga says that in football, the top 20 percent of players makes 63 percent of the money—not including all the advertising contracts.  

Politicians are increasingly complaining that a small number of Americans make too much money.  But they’re talking about CEOs, not athletes.
Apparently, when athletes are well paid, people think it’s because they’re good.  When CEOs are well paid, it’s because they’re greedy.  

And yet while athletes may give us some Sunday afternoon entertainment, it’s the CEOs who give us jobs.

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