Excuses for inequity offer little comfort
Published: February 2, 2007
I'm sure the vast majority of Marylanders earning a fraction of an average CEO's salary found little comfort in the rationales for income disparities offered by Thomas Sowell in "'Greed' isn't behind CEOs' large salaries" (Opinion • Commentary, Jan. 25).
Americans struggling to provide for their families want to know why they aren't earning a livable wage, not why CEOs earn exorbitant salaries.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, in 2005, corporate CEOs earned, on average, 262 times as much as the average worker; in 1978, CEOs earned 35 times more than the average worker.
As people work longer and harder for lower wages and disappearing benefits, while salaries for CEOs multiply yearly, America is failing to live up to its reputation as a generous nation.