September 24, 2013
I support Dodd-Frank rule 953(b) for the disclosure of pay ratios between CEOs and employees.
The transparency this would provide to the public (both customers and shareholders) would be valuable for choosing who we do business with and support. But it would also discourage the sort of behavior displayed by so many corporations that caused the recent financial disaster. Many of those CEOs were paid outrageous bonuses even as they sank their companies and almost the entire economy. But outrageous CEO pay is only outrageous if it is known to the public and employees, and currently it is possible to hide this information. When the public learns about these things, they will hold the companies and CEOs accountable.
That is basic free market economics at work- when the consumers have better information they can make better choices. When workers see how executives at their company are richly rewarded while the workers' pay and benefits are constantly being whittled down, perhaps they will stand up against it. When customers can see a company mistreat its employees while heaping money on executives, they can choose to buy from a different company. And shareholders, who are harmed by all this money going to executives instead of themselves, can do something about it.
While executives hoping for diamond-encrusted parachutes may not like this rule, it is great for consumers, workers, shareholders, our economy, and even our society.
Thank you for standing up for this common sense rule, even though it is intensely opposed by Wall Street, and I hope you will not give in to the pressure they are sure to bring upon you. It is the right thing for America, and just might help avert future greed-based calamities.
Thank you for considering my comment,
Thomas Motes
Beeville, TX