Do Ceos Get Paid Too Much Analysis

Chief executive officers (CEOs) are the corporate employees that are responsible for managing an entire organization. Presently there is a controversy over their salary as to whether it is appropriate or not for one person to be paid so much, especially when the company or the economy may not be performing well. Philosopher Jeff Moriarty wrote an article, “Do CEOs Get Paid Too Much?” that tackles this controversy and he provides possible circumstances in which CEO salaries may be justified. Moriarty’s claim is that CEOs are paid too much, if their salaries are not based off one of three popular views (Moriarty 264).

The three views Moriarty believe as justifications are the agreement, desert, and utility views. The agreement view is that if an informed

The desert view is that the CEO gets what he deserves as evaluated by his performance (Moriarty 267). The third potential view is the utility view and it defines a just wage as one that is give en attract, retain, and especially motivate the CEO so they may maximize the firm’s wealth (Moriarty 268). If any of these views are valid, then he claims it follows that CEOs are paid too much (Moriarty 272). Although Moriarty does make some valid points, I do not agree with all that he states. Specifically, I have critiques with his second view, the desert view. I am a firm believer that people should have mutual standards as for what they deserve as rewards for their achievements. Although no two people are ever on the same plane, no one should feel entitled to any reward unless it is properly earned. Now when Moriarty is determining what a CEO deserves to be paid, he “…will argue that they deserve to make less than $11.1 million per year [the average CEO salary] given that their employees make on average $55,400 per ear. CEOs are not on average 209 times as deserving as their employees.” However, this base, is based