The Guardian

Why do American CEOs get paid so much? | James K Galbraith

‘Let the market decide’ has been the mantra for decades. This dysfunction and inequality is the inevitable result
‘Jeff Bezos has a net worth of over $1570bn, mostly in Amazon stock.’ Photograph: Lindsey Wasson/Reuters

A new report from the Economic Policy Institute calls attention to the hardy perennial of how much America’s corporate titans make: bosses of the top 350 firms made an average of $18.9m in 2017. That’s a ratio of 312-1 over the median worker in their industries. Big bucks to be sure. And a big change since 1965, when the ratio was just 20-1. But what does it mean? And if there’s a problem, what is it, exactly?

What it means, as the

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