Media clips
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Compensation for America’s top executives grew 17 percent in 2017 as real wages for workers declined, according to a study released Thursday. Despite President Donald Trump’s repeated promises to raise the salaries of average Americans, chief executives earned 312 times more than the average employee during his first year in office, according to a new analysis by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). (whole story)
Newsweek August 17, 2018 -
Some of what Trump says is true (inflation is indeed low), though most of it is false, which is pretty much what we’ve come to expect from him. But here’s our second perspective on the economy, from a new report by Lawrence Mishel and Jessica Schieder of the Economic Policy Institute: In 2017 the average CEO of the 350 largest firms in the U.S. received $18.9 million in compensation, a 17.6 percent increase over 2016. The typical worker’s compensation remained flat, rising a mere 0.3 percent. The 2017 CEO-to-worker compensation ratio of 312-to-1 was far greater than the 20-to-1 ratio in 1965 and more than five times greater than the 58-to-1 ratio in 1989 (although it was lower than the peak ratio of 344-to-1, reached in 2000). The gap between the compensation of CEOs and other very-high-wage earners is also substantial, with the CEOs in large firms earning 5.5 times as much as the average earner in the top 0.1 percent. So to sum up: CEOs are making absolutely stunning amounts of money, while workers’ wages are going nowhere. In the last year, wages rose by 2.7 percent while inflation was 2.9 percent, meaning that the average person has nothing more in their pocket than they did a year ago. In fact, wages for most workers have been essentially stagnant for decades.
The Washington Post August 17, 2018 -
In 2017, ordinary workers became no more valuable to our society than they were the year before. Normally, eight years into an expansion — with unemployment nearing record lows — one would expect to see America’s laborers enjoying hefty wage growth. But despite these favorable conditions, our nation’s working stiffs failed to make themselves more useful to their fellow citizens last year. Thus, the market — the impartial, infallible indicator of a person’s objective worth — declined to provide ordinary Americans with bigger paychecks.
Fortunately for all of us, America’s elite CEOs decided to pick up the slack. In 2017, the chief executives of the 350 largest U.S. economies contributed a whopping 17.6 percent more to our collective well-being than they did in 2016 — and thus, collected an average raise of $3.3 million, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute. Thanks to their heroic efforts, the typical elite CEO in the U.S. now deserves 312 times as much of our collective appreciation as his (or, rarely, her) typical employee.
New York Magazine August 17, 2018 -
The compensation for CEOs at the US’s biggest public companies continued to surge in 2017, according to a new report, but the workers in those same industries are seeing meager gains. A study by the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank focused on labor issues, found that total compensation for CEOs at the 350 largest publicly traded companies in the US rose to $18.9 million in 2017, up 17.6% from the year before. (whole story)
Business Insider August 17, 2018 -
Compensation for chief executive officers at top corporations increased by 17.6 percent in 2017, according to a report by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. On average, CEOs at the top 350 companies in the U.S. received $18.9 million last year, a figure that includes stock options, bonuses, and long-term incentive payouts. CEO pay has grown even faster than stocks and corporate profits as a whole, the analysis says. The CEO-to-worker compensation ratio in 2017 was 312:1, EPI said, compared to 58:1 as recently as 1989. It reached its peak imbalance in 2000 at 344:1. The report suggests Congress increase income and corporate tax rates, among other changes.
Politico Pro August 17, 2018 -
A new report out today shows the compensation for CEOs increased on average by 17.6 percent over 2016, while a typical employee’s pay remained stagnant. One of the study’s authors joins us to discuss the significance of the gap between employees and executives, and what he thinks needs to change.
Wisconsin Public Radio August 17, 2018 -
Los altos ejecutivos de las empresas más grandes de Estados Unidos ganan alrededor de 312 veces más que los trabajadores promedio, según un nuevo informe del Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Los directores generales de las 350 empresas más grandes del país obtuvieron un salario promedio de 18.9 millones de dólares en 2017, un fuerte aumento del 17% con respecto al año anterior. Estas estimaciones incluyen sueldos, bonificaciones, subsidios de acciones restringidas, acciones de la compañía en efectivo y otras formas de compensación para los directores ejecutivos de esas empresas. (whole story)
Univision August 17, 2018 -
The top executives of the biggest companies in the U.S. make about 312 times more than their workers, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). That estimate is up from 270 times in 2016. Looking at CEO compensation across 350 publicly held companies, co-authors Larry Mishel and Jessica Schneider found that the average CEO in 2017 received $18.9 million in compensation. (whole story)
Yahoo News August 17, 2018 -
Wage slaves? Not so much, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute (emphasis ours): This report looks at trends in chief executive officer (C.E.O.) compensation, using two different measures. The first measure includes stock options realized (in addition to salary, bonuses, restricted stock grants, and long-term incentive payouts). By this measure, in 2017 the average C.E.O. of the 350 largest firms in the U.S. received $18.9 million in compensation, a 17.6 percent increase over 2016. The typical worker’s compensation remained flat, rising a mere 0.3 percent. The 2017 C.E.O.-to-worker compensation ratio of 312-to-1 was far greater than the 20-to-1 ratio in 1965 and more than five times greater than the 58-to-1 ratio in 1989 (although it was lower than the peak ratio of 344-to-1, reached in 2000). The gap between the compensation of C.E.O.s and other very-high-wage earners is also substantial, with the C.E.O.s in large firms earning 5.5 times as much as the average earner in the top 0.1 percent. (report cited throughout)
Vanity Fair August 17, 2018 -
As progressives have worked to win the fight for a $15 federal minimum wage, CEO pay has skyrocketed even further in the past year—while business leaders and Republicans have claimed that raising wages for workers would be prohibitively expensive. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) released a new report Thursday showing how executive compensation surged during President Donald Trump’s first year in office —as Republicans were pitching their tax plan with promises that the proposal would offer benefits and savings to middle-class and working Americans across the country. Looking at CEO pay based on stock options, salary, bonuses, and other forms of payment, EPI found that the average top executive at the 350 largest U.S. firms walked away with between $13.3 and $18.9 million last year. The previous year, those same CEOs made between $13 and $17.6 million. (whole story)
Common Dreams August 17, 2018