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The Wall Street Jounal has my panties in a bunch. Because of two articles I sort of wish I hadn't read, I've been biting my nails and pacing all day.
The WSJ pointed out that those of us who have followed the old "Save ten percent for retirement" rule apparently will be up Crap Creek during our golden years. Far fewer companies give pensions these days, and those that do have severely cut their contributions. Moreover, one way or another Social Security will have to change to meet demand. The amount of benefits will probably be reduced and the age which one receives them will be increased. So, at least 20% of take home pay needs to be banked for retirement alone. (This assumes one's mortgage will be paid off.)
Add to the pressure this factoid: Harvard University now charges $41,000 per year. The figure includes books, tuition, room and board. College tuition increases have been higher than the rate of inflation for years. Harvard and its counterparts will likely be charging $220,000 for a four year undergraduate degree within ten years. This means that even if you plan on sending your offspring to a good, solid state school you're looking at paying a lot more money than previously thought.
So, if you don't want to eat cat food once you're old and gray and you want to send Junior and Juniorette to the college of their choice, banking 50% of your take home pay is a good idea.
Crap. Crap. Crap.
I want to know how people are doing this. I see so many big screen t.v.'s, SUVs, and mini McMansions these days. The WSJ reports that Americans on average save very little. What's everyone's plan?
How does a parent look at their kid who has worked hard for his/her future and say, "Sorry. It's community college for you. That's all we can afford," when Dad has a Lexus parked in the garage? Do people think cat food will become tasty in their old age? Or, are they counting on their debt ridden and/or uneducated adult children to support them?
The American economy is getting freakier and freakier. I think we are growing ever nearer to the moment when something has got to give.
Wednesday, July 20
Outsourcing the CEO
I found a fantastic article in the Wall Street Journal this morning. Carol Hymowitz noticed that a lot of companies have been whining about the costs of employees. They owe it to their shareholder's to go with the cheapest labor possible. Hello Mexico, China, and Taiwan. Fair enough, but what about the CEO?
Time to take a closer look at the portfolio.
"The median salary plus cash bonus for U.S. CEOs in office for at least a year totaled $2.3 million in 2004. That compares with $1.2 million for the heads of U.K. companies, $857,000 for the French, and $386,000 for the Swedish. Indian CEOs earn a median salary and bonus of $88,117 compared with $317,864 for the heads of Japanese companies, $302,078 at Hong Kong companies and $263,301 at Singapore concerns."I'm all for capitalism and the free market. I'm a firm believer in the laws of supply and demand. If you work hard at something and do it better than anyone else, you should be compensated for it. If you suck, you should be boot kicked out the door. However, Hymowitz found that CEO pay is NOT linked to performance, far from it.
"Newly named CEOs are guaranteed a trough of money before they've done any work. When they fail and are dismissed, they are handed even more money."Huh? I'm sorry, what alter universe did I fall into? Where did the free market go?
"...At Morgan Stanley, where ex CEO Phil Purcell received a severance and retirement package estimated at $106 million, including a new $44 million cash bonus for being shown the door. Former Co-President Steve Crawford is walking away with two years of severance estimated at $32 million after 3 1/2 months on that job."Why aren't shareholders screaming? Why would any board of directors ever so grandly reward incompetence? After so many recent scandals at major corporations, i.e., ADM, Adelphia, WorldCom, Tyco, Healthsouth, Enron -to name a just few- why is such flagrant corporate greed allowed, tolerated, even flourishing? I'm not a communist. I don't believe we should all get paid the same wage. Doctors should be paid more than garbage collectors. Yet, if salaries are no longer tied to performance, and the laws of supply and demand are now moot, shouldn't this be bigger news to economists?
Time to take a closer look at the portfolio.
Pretty women find something interesting to do in Pekin
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This must be big news or it wouldn't be on the front page of the Journal Star. The Miss Marigold pageant has been canceled. They can't find eight Pekin women interested in owning the title.
Er, maybe times have changed and women ages 17 to 21 don't think a competition that involves parading around in a puffy dress is worth a $1,000 scholarship. Perhaps WOMEN age 17 to 21 would be considered the biggest dweeb in town if they actually wore the tiara.
Here's a hint to Pekin pageant organizers: Lower the age limit or seriously up the prize money. Little girls love to play dress up. A woman needs more motivation than the mere possibility of $1,000 to invest in a gown, painful waxing, hair teasing, face spackling and then waving for hours with a fake smile plastered on her face.
I've got nothing against pageants, Miss America included. I imagine it's a lot of hard work to get to the top of the pageant circuit. I bet years ago the Pekin pageant had tons of willing, excited contestants.
I also think it is fantastic that girls and women are finding more productive, interesting and important ways to spend their lives.
This must be big news or it wouldn't be on the front page of the Journal Star. The Miss Marigold pageant has been canceled. They can't find eight Pekin women interested in owning the title.
Er, maybe times have changed and women ages 17 to 21 don't think a competition that involves parading around in a puffy dress is worth a $1,000 scholarship. Perhaps WOMEN age 17 to 21 would be considered the biggest dweeb in town if they actually wore the tiara.
Here's a hint to Pekin pageant organizers: Lower the age limit or seriously up the prize money. Little girls love to play dress up. A woman needs more motivation than the mere possibility of $1,000 to invest in a gown, painful waxing, hair teasing, face spackling and then waving for hours with a fake smile plastered on her face.
I've got nothing against pageants, Miss America included. I imagine it's a lot of hard work to get to the top of the pageant circuit. I bet years ago the Pekin pageant had tons of willing, excited contestants.
I also think it is fantastic that girls and women are finding more productive, interesting and important ways to spend their lives.
This is a really bad sign...
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You know your State's Attorney is a pansy when defense attorneys rally behind him. The PJ Star ran a front page article hailing Kevin Lyons as tough on solicitation and prostitution. The problem is that the very same lawyers Johns run to when they get arrested think Lyons is doing a bang up job. They like Lyons. They want to keep him around. Gosh. I wonder why. Could it be that their clients fare well under the current regime?
The article also states that the States Attorney's Office doesn't keep statistical data on the types of cases it prosecutes. REALLY? So, how do we know if you're doing your job at all?
Assistant State's Attorney Steve Pattelli estimates that their office charges 95% of those who are arrested for solicitation. That's a juicy number. I wonder why Journal Star reporter Andy Kravetz didn't file a Freedom of Information request and confirm it?
In the off chance a diligent reporter checks, and the numbers aren't near that grand, Lyons already has a backup excuse: It's the law's fault. Legislators believe that Johns are not as reprehensible as prostitutes and therefore the law treats them less harshly.
I don't care. Prosecute them anyway. Call their wives and employers. Post 'em on the web. Impound their cars. Here's a thought: Do what works. At the very least do something!
You know your State's Attorney is a pansy when defense attorneys rally behind him. The PJ Star ran a front page article hailing Kevin Lyons as tough on solicitation and prostitution. The problem is that the very same lawyers Johns run to when they get arrested think Lyons is doing a bang up job. They like Lyons. They want to keep him around. Gosh. I wonder why. Could it be that their clients fare well under the current regime?
The article also states that the States Attorney's Office doesn't keep statistical data on the types of cases it prosecutes. REALLY? So, how do we know if you're doing your job at all?
Assistant State's Attorney Steve Pattelli estimates that their office charges 95% of those who are arrested for solicitation. That's a juicy number. I wonder why Journal Star reporter Andy Kravetz didn't file a Freedom of Information request and confirm it?
In the off chance a diligent reporter checks, and the numbers aren't near that grand, Lyons already has a backup excuse: It's the law's fault. Legislators believe that Johns are not as reprehensible as prostitutes and therefore the law treats them less harshly.
I don't care. Prosecute them anyway. Call their wives and employers. Post 'em on the web. Impound their cars. Here's a thought: Do what works. At the very least do something!
Please Sir, can I have some more?
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Tonya Alexander was apparently absent from kindergarten the day her teacher gave the "Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn't mean you should," lecture. Tonya is whining because she received a $125 littering fine for tossing a cigarette butt out of her car window. Tonya doesn't know any other filthy, inconsiderate smokers/jackasses who have received the same penalty. Let me see if I can work up a tear for this poor, hapless victim who thinks the planet (or at least the intersection of War Memorial and Knoxville) is her personal ashtray. Nope. Notta.
According to Phil Luciano only eight littering tickets have been written by cops this year. No wonder the East Bluff is so filthy. Now this is a fine I can get behind. Hell, in Peoria this type of fine could make the City some serious money. Phil doesn't think "we want police wasting time by hunting litterers." Really? Sounds good to me. He also "doubt(s) the department is about to post mug shots of litterers on its Web page, next to prostitution aficionados." Just a web page? Can't we get a bill board too?
Some Cities pay the salaries of meter maids and traffic cops from the fines they collect. Why not hire a Litter Squad? It could pay for itself and then some. I took a road trip through Georgia last week. I didn't see any litter on the side of the highway. However, I did see plenty of signs stating "$500 Fine for Littering."
If Peoria could hail itself the "Cleanest City in the Midwest" it would do a lot to bring in new businesses and residents. Lets begin by making Tonya Alexander pay her fine, put on an orange vest, and pick up other people's roadside trash for a week.
Tonya Alexander was apparently absent from kindergarten the day her teacher gave the "Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn't mean you should," lecture. Tonya is whining because she received a $125 littering fine for tossing a cigarette butt out of her car window. Tonya doesn't know any other filthy, inconsiderate smokers/jackasses who have received the same penalty. Let me see if I can work up a tear for this poor, hapless victim who thinks the planet (or at least the intersection of War Memorial and Knoxville) is her personal ashtray. Nope. Notta.
According to Phil Luciano only eight littering tickets have been written by cops this year. No wonder the East Bluff is so filthy. Now this is a fine I can get behind. Hell, in Peoria this type of fine could make the City some serious money. Phil doesn't think "we want police wasting time by hunting litterers." Really? Sounds good to me. He also "doubt(s) the department is about to post mug shots of litterers on its Web page, next to prostitution aficionados." Just a web page? Can't we get a bill board too?
Some Cities pay the salaries of meter maids and traffic cops from the fines they collect. Why not hire a Litter Squad? It could pay for itself and then some. I took a road trip through Georgia last week. I didn't see any litter on the side of the highway. However, I did see plenty of signs stating "$500 Fine for Littering."
If Peoria could hail itself the "Cleanest City in the Midwest" it would do a lot to bring in new businesses and residents. Lets begin by making Tonya Alexander pay her fine, put on an orange vest, and pick up other people's roadside trash for a week.
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