Academics critical of skyrocketing pay for CEOs

Title: Academics critical of skyrocketing pay for CEOs
Source: thestar.com
Date: January 3, 2011

From the article:

“It’s just breathtaking,” Hugh Mackenzie, economist for the Ottawa-based non-profit research group, said in an interview. “The skyrocketing level of executive pay in Canada and the U.S. is the primary factor that lies behind growing income inequality.”

The typical explanation — that companies need to offer their chief executive millions in order to attract, keep and motivate a suitable leader — doesn’t hold water, Mackenzie said.

“You could ask how motivating is it for the average employee, who is actually the person who generates the income for the corporation, to see that their CEO is making 300 times what they are. I would think that would be kind of demotivating.”