I think that this is a SPLENDID idea

by Skip

It seems that every time I turn around, the anti-capitalists are always upset with how the upper echelons of private companies are compensated.  They are forever whipsawing the ideas of pay in cash, no, pay in stock, pay it now, no, pay it later, they have to be accountable this way, they have to be accountable that way…..you get the idea.  

The problem with these regulatory folks is that those they regulate are often far smarter, find the loopholes quicker, and can react so much faster, that the Law of Unseen Effects and Unintended Consequences of Laws make mincemeat of the "intended" results.

Yet, we too often turn our ire onto those whose actions have far more consequences on us in general than a few well paid CEOs.  Don Boudreaux has a GREAT idea on taking the above and putting it into place on those who REALLY can make our lives miserable and don’t stay in place long enough to "share" in what they have reaped:

Here’s a letter to the Wall Street Journal:

You report that “Giant companies such as Bank of America Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley that are considered critical to the U.S. economy, could be forced to award half or more of their executives’ pay in the form stock or other deferred compensation, instead of up-front cash” (“U.S. Mulls New Push to Shape Bank Pay,” Dec. 21).

Proponents of government regulation insist that no institution is more critical to the U.S. economy than is the U.S. government.  So reason dictates that the same rules that apply to executives at the likes of Morgan Stanley should apply also to those who set and execute Uncle Sam’s policies.  Members of Congress and all top White House officials – including the President – should receive at least half of their pay in the form of ten-year bonds whose redemption values are structured to rise with decreases in the national debt and fall with increases in the national debt.

Goose, meet gander!  Consequences should matter – we should make it such that consequenses also hit our politicians and top level bureaucrats.  Let’s use the idea behind profit, called "self-interest" and inject accountability into the process.  The idea of government bonds being a "judgment" against earnings, I think, might constrain some of the really yahoo ideas.  The only problem is that most of the major "yahoos" are already millionaires. 

Wouldn’t it be fun though, to force them to hold a certainly percentage of their wealth in US Bonds?

H/T: Cafe Hayek)

Author

  • Skip

    Co-founder of GraniteGrok, my concern is around Individual Liberty and Freedom and how the Government is taking that away. As an evangelical Christian and Conservative with small "L" libertarian leanings, my fight is with Progressives forcing a collectivized, secular humanistic future upon us. As a TEA Party activist, citizen journalist, and pundit!, my goal is to use the New Media to advance the radical notions of America's Founders back into our culture.

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