What's Wrong With Our Economy? Read This!

Okay, this isn't Linux related. It's more of a protest / rant post.
With unemployment in the U.S. at a staggering 7.2%, meaning that 2.6 million jobs were lost in 2008, you have to start looking at some numbers. Certain numbers will tell you what is wrong with our economy.

Numbers like those found here at Forbes.

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/12/lead_bestbosses08_CEO-Compensation_Rank.html

The latest compensation figures for the top 25 CEO's.
These figures were published 4-30-08 and are based on 2007 year end figures.
So let's go and add them all up.

Seems that the total compensation for a years worth of work by these 25 CEO's is worth $1,884,140,000.00!
That's one billion eight hundred eighty four million one hundred forty thousand U.S. dollars per year!!

Now I know that a CEO works very hard for the company that hired them (Or is supposed to but that usually takes additional bonuses and incentives) but let's take a look at some other numbers.

If we take that CEO compensation total and used it to create $50,000 a year jobs we could employ 37,682 workers.
If we spread these jobs across the 25 companies that paid out these salaries, each company could employ 1507 workers.

As I said, a CEO works hard and needs to be a good leader for the company but are they really worth as much as 1507 employees making $50,000 per year?

I'll let you make that decision.

Another page found at Payscale mentions a 2004 study that shows the growing gap between CEO's and the average worker.
In 1970 a CEO made about 25 times as much as the average worker.
In 2000 that gap grew to 90 times as much and depending on bonuses and stock options that gap reached 500 times as much!!!

I'm sure there are many readers who have known co-workers that have worked 20 or 30 years at a company and knew more about the business and what good decisions to make. Those are the ones who would make a good CEO and I'm sure they would be more then happy with a $1,000,000 (1 Million) a year pay rate.

So as our government runs around scratching their asses and thinking that a $1,000 tax break will fix things I got news for them.
That's like trying to put out a blazing inferno with a squirt gun.
That tax break wouldn't even cover most families expenses for 2 weeks.
They are out of touch with reality as are the corporations with their CEO pay scales.

Trim the greed and the fat by starting at the top. Then and only then will the economy slowly turn around. And finally I have a secret to tell you.
No one will admit to it and many will deny it but check the facts and figures from your history books.
This ain't a recession! It's a depression!

Only this time the government ran to the rescue of the banks. Had they not bailed them out (I'm still waiting on an accountability report as to where my money went. Can you say bonus?) we would be seeing pictures of 1929 all over again.
Remember. You heard it here first.

Good luck to all.

TaZMAn