Big Business Getting Richer

I remain baffled by the proponents of corporate capitalism and neoliberal ideology who continue to defend the blatant plunder and outright thievery of American citizens. While the Tea Party faithful rage against “Big Government” taking their money and creating infrastructure and social programs, they acquiesce when “Big Business” continues to empty the public coffers and destroy the economy. Somehow private power trumps public good?

From WSWS:

Wall Street Firms Dole Out Record Pay to Executives

While for millions of Americans 2010 has been a year of unemployment and wage-cutting, executives at a handful of finance firms will be paid a record $144 billion, according to a new survey by the Wall Street Journal. The sum is up 4 percent from last year’s haul of $139 billion, which was also a record.

The Journal found that executive pay for 2010 has gone up at 29 of the top 35 surveyed banks, investment banks, hedge funds, money management firms, and securities exchanges. The payroll increase will slightly outstrip the growth in revenue at these firms, which increased by 3 percent from $433 billion in 2009 to $448 billion in 2010. About a third of total Wall Street revenue is given over to employees.

While profits at the big finance houses have rebounded from the lows of 2008, when the entire financial system teetered on the brink of collapse, they remain 20 percent below the record set in 2006, or $61.3 billion now versus $82 billion four years earlier. Yet over the same period executive pay has increased by 23 percent.

Among the surveyed firms are Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Barclay’s Capital, Blackstone Group and Fortress Investment Group.

The record payout to the same financiers responsible for setting into motion the economic crisis shows, if any further proof were needed, that the bailout of the financial industry—backed by both Democrats and Republicans—had as its central aim the promotion of a tiny layer of the extremely wealthy.

It is of a piece with the rapid increase in corporate profits—even as workers’ wages stagnate—and the increase in net wealth of the very richest Americans, 400 of whom now control nearly $1.4 trillion. (See: “Forbes 400 list: 2010 has been very good to the richest Americans”.)

Read More @ WSWS

See Also: “Wall Street Pay: A Record $144 Billion”

[ h/t to I cite]

UPDATE NOV 18/2010 - America’s corporate and financial elite back at the feeding trough:

America’s corporate and financial elite has returned to the feeding trough and is collecting huge salaries and bonuses while tens of millions of workers in the US continue to face levels of social misery not seen since the Great Depression.

Annual bonuses rose by 11 percent for executives at the 450 largest US corporations last fiscal year, according to a new survey published by the Wall Street Journal. Overall, median compensation—including salaries, bonuses, stocks, options and other incentives—rose by three percent to $7.3 million in 2009.

The increased payouts were the result of soaring profits at top companies, which doubled from a year earlier, leading to a 29 percent increase in total shareholder returns. This, in turn, was the direct result of the offensive that corporate America has waged against the working class, with the full backing of the Obama administration and both big business parties. Over the course of the last two years companies have slashed payrolls, wages and benefits, replaced full-time workers with temporary and casual workers earning poverty level wages and ratcheted up productivity.

“Cost-cutting” and “streamlining” were the principal pursuits of all the CEOs pocketing large pay packages last year. The top five were: (1) Gregory B. Maffei of Liberty Media Corp., who got $87.1 million in compensation last year, four times his 2008 package; (2) Larry Ellison, Oracle’s billionaire founder, who received $68.6 million; (3) Ray R. Irani of Occidental Petroleum Corp., who got $52.2 million; (4) Yahoo’s Carol Bartz, who took in $44.6 million; and (5) Leslie Moonves from CBS, who got $39 million.

With the S&P 500 Index up 7.5 percent so far this year, top executives are expected to see even bigger compensation packages in 2010. “Many companies are beating earnings expectations, stock prices are up and performance is good, so bonuses will be good,” Mark Reilly, a partner with the Chicago-based Compensation Consulting Consortium LLC, told the Journal.

The payouts to the heads of media, energy and Internet firms pale in comparison, however, to the grotesques sums hedge fund managers and private equity traders will be paid when Wall Street issues its year-end bonuses. According to a survey cited in the New York Times, overall compensation in “financial services” will rise 5 percent in 2010, with employees in some businesses, like asset management, getting increases of 15 percent. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase have reportedly set aside $89.54 billion for year-end bonuses. [source]