various ceos have proved they have no interest in the long term profits of their companies. and it’s entirely rational.
the most influential shareholders – hedge fund managers, big banks, and 1%s – have set the metrics for ceo pay based on near term share price rises.
everyone is making money on the margins, not on actual value. in part, i think, because it’s just so easy to trade stocks electronically these days.
and it’s a practice further encouraged by “too big fail” where public money is used to cover any mistakes.
people who are solely interested in making the most money possible are behaving in completely sensible, even if destructive, ways.
the things that sound sensible to me are:
- get people to stop using the big banks ( and credit cards ) to help starve the banks of excess funds;
- tax companies on their sales not their profits to decrease tax avoidance ( and the reliance on the working class to pave the roads for the rich );
- establish a significant financial transaction tax to decrease the value of short term trading ( and to make sure that the investment class is paying their fair share );
- get money out of politics so people can pass meaningful laws to reign in actual malfeasance.
yeah. it’s definitely not worth reigning in corporate power until after we can ensure everyone on the entire planet is treated exactly the same. i mean, really. why start anywhere?
in fact: i think we should all just sit around and wait till there’s only two classes in the world: the super rich on their floating island nations; and the rest of us poor sods.
