AND THE ENEMY IS....

US. Yes, we have a culture that disproportionately rewards CEOs, turning them into virtual princelings who debase our notions of work and reward. (h/t Matt Yglesias)

American CEOs get paid more than British CEOs who get paid more than continental or Japanese CEOs. You see the same pattern here, where for his labors at Ericsson last year, Svanberg earned 20,423,391 Swedish kroner which comes out to be a bit more than $2.5 million. Ericsson is 289 on the Forbes 500 list. One slot down is Hindustan Petroleum, who’s the founder of the company and pays himself a very modest $200,000 a year. Then at 300 on the list you get to Aetna whose CEO Ronald Williams took home $38.12 million last year.