The so-called “free market” is a myth

From Facebook post by economist Robert Reich.

https://www.facebook.com/RBReich?fref=nf

Post by Robert Reich.

[Copied the text below, for when the Facebook post becomes inactive.]

The so-called “free market” is a myth perpetrated by those who have disproportionate influence in determining its rules. In the United States, for example, corporate law gives shareholders only an advisory say in CEO pay, and powerful CEOs along with their Wall Street buddies have kept it that way. Billionaire Larry Ellison got $78.4 million as CEO of Oracle last year, prompting Oracle shareholders to reject the company’s executive pay plan, but that made no difference because Ellison controls the board. In Australia, by contrast, shareholders have the right to force an entire corporate board to stand for re-election if at least 25 percent of shareholders vote against a CEO pay plan two years in a row. As a result, CEOs in Australia have got only modest pay rises, last year averaging 70 times the pay of typical Australian workers. The average pay of US CEOs last year was 331 times that of the typical American worker. The next time you hear a conservative talk about the wonders of free-market capitalism, ask him who makes the rules. Even better, mobilize and organize so the U.S. has a "say on pay" law that gives investors and also workers the right to nix exorbitant CEO pay.