431 to 1: Ratio of CEO pay to average worker pay in 2004.

[katinmn]

BY THE NUMBERS
September 11, 2005 GAW0911
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5606302.html

301 to 1: Ratio of the pay of a chief executive officer of a leading U.S. corporation to the pay of the average worker in 2003.

431 to 1: Ratio of CEO pay to average worker pay in 2004.

21: From 1990 to 2004, percent decline in the number of Americans employed in manufacturing.

58: From 1990 to 2004, percent increase in the output of manufacturing industries in the United States.

102: From the day Martha Stewart entered federal prison to the day she was released from home confinement, percentage increase in the value of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia stock.

62: Percent increase in the price of gas in Minnesota in the last 12 months.

11: Percent of the price of a gallon of gasoline in the beginning of September 2004 that was accounted for by the state gas tax.

7: Percent that is now accounted for by the state gas tax.

6: Minimum number of states considering a reduction in state gas taxes in response to the price spikes.

2: As of Wednesday, minimum number of states that have filed lawsuits against individuals accusing them of fraud related to Hurricane Katrina.

2,300: As of Wednesday, minimum number of websites claiming to deal in Katrina information and relief, including katrinafamilies.com, which has ties to a white supremacist group.

Compiled by Jonathan Gaw. He can be reached at [e-mail].

[teryang]

1. The land of opportunity

Anyone can grow up to be a fortune 500 CEO. So quit your bitchin!

Numbers like these are reminiscent of the late 20s.

[Veronicrat]

2. Maximum Wage

50 to 80 years ago American industry needed an educated American worker, and the public schools regularly turned out people who could read & write. now there are no jobs left in these United States anymore. Many things are produced, by children, for a dollar a day or less. So the top guys can make even more money. And there is no interest in these poor kids voting either, I mean there are many more poor & disenfranchised in this country than rich & powerful. if the poor voted more, the government would look a lot different.
Capitalism was supposed to be great because with no upper limits on income,jobs would be created. What we have seen over the past 2 decades is a complete bastardazation of that-Companies fire workers, and the share price goes up.
The money suppy is fixed- no one "makes" money, you just get it off of someone else.
Look around you and ask yourself, will you or anyone you see ever make more than $5 million a year? Probably not. but we are told agin & again there can be no upward limits on the amount of money people at the top make.
Actually that isnt totally true, there is a salry cap in the national Basketball Association. I propose a MAXIMUM wage. No one on this gree earth needs to make more than $5 million a year. i ti time to limit the upward reach of income. Then there will be a great er distribution of wealth for ALL Americans. I doubt that someone like Bill Gates would have not" invented "the computer if he couldnt make more then $% million a year- which is a lot of money.

i also think there should be caps on what is allowed to be spent on a campaign for election. the FCC shoudl offer Free airtime to candidates (the greatest expense is TV air time) and then the maximum to spend on the presidency is $10 million, $1 million for the Senate, $500,000 for the house. We do not have endless growth in site. We must limit the payment to top executives. They arent worth the money, they arent creating jobs in this country.

[zalinda]

3. While I agree with most of what you say

there is a difference between CEO's and people who own companies. CEO's don't take any real risk when running a company and should therefore be on a cap. Company owners do take tremendous risk and should not be on a cap.

As for candidates, yes, we should propose a campaign spending cap. We should also make our politicians work for their elections by making them personally collect so many signatures on a their election petition. That way they would have to get an earful from the people they are supposed to represent. It is absolutely disgusting to spend $100 million dollars on a campaign. All that money is better served helping the American citizen. TV stations get their air waves for free, it's time they gave back with free campaign commercials. And, the commercials MUST be true, no more "free speech". Truth has got to come back to our air waves.

zalinda

[Deja Q]

4. And when you're a CEO, you fuck up the company and get set for life:

A "golden parachute".

So while hey get a golden parachute that sets them for life and 5 more lives, we get the golden shower to help pay for the idiotbastard's retirement.

[lakeguy]

5. how do i get me one of them CEO jobs?

[lindisfarne]

6. 40-ish to 1: Ratio of CEO pay to average worker pay in 1984. n/t