“From Predictably Irrational “in 1993, federal securities regulators forced companies, for the first time, to reveal details about the pay and perks of their top executives. The idea was that once pay was in the open, board would be reluctant to give outrageous salaries and benefits. This, it was hoped, would stop the rise in executive compensation, which neither regulation, legislation, nor shareholder pressure had been able to stop. And, indeed, it needed to stop: in 1976 the average CEO was paid 36 times as much as the average worker. By 1993, the average CEO was paid 131 times as much. But guess what happened. Once salaries became public information, the media regularly ran stories ranking CEOs by pay. Rather than suppressing executive perks, the publicity had CEOs in America comparing their pay with that of everyone else. In response, executive salaries skyrocketed….The result? Now the average CEO makes about 369 times as much as the average worker – about 3 times the salary before executive compensation went public.” ”
