Executive salaries and what it means for our economyThe United States economy is by far the largest and most powerful economy from all over the world. The average family income is about $40,000 per year and our GDP (gross domestic product) is well over $10 trillion. The next closest country is Japan, with a total GDP of $4 trillion. (Johnson & Wales: Economics) The United States has so many big companies that it takes someone to run each of them, and it also takes a lot of money to pay someone to participate in them. everyone's responsibility.Major companies in the United States range from automobile manufacturers to appliance manufacturers to telecommunications companies. The largest company in the United States in the net profit category is Citigroup, which belongs to the banking sector. The CEO of Citigroup is Charles O. Prince. In 2005, Charles O. Prince raked in $22,994,729 in total compensation, including Citigroup stock option grants. The average employee would have to work 459 years to match Charles O. Prince's compensation in 2005. (AUM) Other perks reaped by CEOs range from country club membership to yacht spending. Mattress King Simmons Bedding covers up to $105,000 in annual fees for the crew of CEO Charles Eitel's yacht. Eitel, who earned $998,000 in salary and bonuses, makes the yacht available for corporate functions 30 days a year. (USA Today) The extra perks that CEOs receive are mind-boggling for the average person to imagine. The people responsible, unfortunately, are ourselves. Over the years, investors could have intervened to prevent this inflation of executive compensation. Sadl...... middle of paper ......y regarding income. The recent explosion of large corporations and international expansion is forcing companies to offer enormous compensation to their CEO. However, it is not fair for us to compare someone's compensation to ours. We have no idea how stressful their job is, or what skills it takes to get into such a position. It certainly sounds nice to be a CEO. Works CitedUSA Today/Special Report: CEO pays 'as usual' http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2005-03-30-ceo-pay-2004-cover_x.htmUSA Today/Report special: Executive Pay 2004http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2004-ceo-pay-total-chart.htmAmericas Union Movement/2005 Trends in CEO Payhttp://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/ paywatch/pay/index.cfm