AFL-CIO Looks at CEO Salaries

From an article on CNN:

In 2010, chief executives at some of the nation's largest companies earned an average of $11.4 million in total pay -- 343 times more than a typical American worker, according to the AFL-CIO.

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In an effort to shine a light on CEO pay, the AFL-CIO examined chief executive salaries at 299 firms traded on the S&P 500. Their compensation was up 23% in 2010, compared to 2009. AFL-CIO used Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data to define typical worker pay, which was $33,190 for all occupations in 2009, the most recent year for which data is available.

The joke is that they high paid CEOs by and large delivered substandard performance in 2009. They delivered catastropic performance in 2008. So they are getting rewarded for their position, not their accomplishments. That is a crazy scheme for paying people unless you want to build a two-tier society with the incumbents in top positions become the new aristocracy.