Obscene Exec Pay: Exhibit A In a year when pay for chief executives overall fell, Ray R. Irani came out on top. The longtime head of Occidental Petroleum was awarded total compensation of $52.2 million, up from $49.9 million in 2008. The oil company’s directors believe in “excellent pay for excellent performance,” and Mr. Irani’s...Read More
T.G.I.M. (“Thank God it’s Monday”) Q: What do workaholics say?A: “Thank God it’s Monday” No, that’s not the scene at my house right now (or at least I don’t think so — I left a couple hours ago). Other reasons that can’t be my household: there are too many kids in the photo (I only...Read More
Testing “the Bernanke Put”So, the Federal Reserve’s $1.25 trillion program to buy mortgage-backed securities officially ended yesterday. Next up: home buyer tax credits, scheduled to expire at the end of the month. But are the Fed — and U.S. Treasury — really done? In an era of too-big-too-fail, “the Bernanke put” (preceded by “the Greenspan...Read More
