Always good articles Kurt Andersen.

CEOs can't be singled out as any more greedy than anyone else, surely. And if shareholders want to pay them these kind of figures then I guess they think it's worth it. Generally targeting greed can be a bit of a distraction to what really is going on and too easily falls into the eternal grievance and victom mentality that's not helpful.

Does the CEO making such a huge income take away from the rest of us? It can be the case where companies have sway over the market (cable companies are a good example). It was the case with Bill Gates (athough he always denied it) where we were obliged to pay a margin for one operating system.

Straightening out the domination of markets would lower CEO compensation because the companies would be forced to be more competitive and there would be more of them.

The nationalization and internationalization of corporations increased CEO pay simply because the companies became much bigger (eg. Department stores were not just local anymore).

There is a huge problem in America of disparity of income, wealth and (because of these) opportunity. This absolutely needs addressing because it contributes so much to disfunction the of government. Disfunction also of our great engines of prosperity -- immigration, invention, investment and trade.

Many thanks. Best to you.