Classic,
I'll agree with you that CEO salaries are an issue, but that still isn't the main issue with manufacturing companies.
The high salary CEO issues have mainly been with companies that are not manufacturing companies. One example is E-Trade about 6 years ago. The stock had done terribly during this CEO's tenure, yet he still got an $80 million bonus. That is insane. However, these CEO matters still do not stack up to the health care and retirement issues that companies are going through.
Here is a webpage from Ford:
http://www.ford.com/en/company/about...healthCare.htm
Ford spent $3.1 BILLION in health care in 2004 and I am sure that number only went up for 2005 and 2006.
Ford also employs 300,000 employees. Let's assume an average salary of $30,000 per employee. That comes out to $9 BILLION in salary. Now, if Ford merely matched these employee's contributions to a 401(k) plan in the amount of 5% of salary, that would cost Ford an additional $450 Million per year and I think these numbers are on the low side. Ford and the other car makers got into trouble with the use of defined benefit plans where they promised to pay retirees a certain amount when they retired and the plans were under-funded.
Do CEO's make more than they should when they make $10 Million a year? I would say so, but those are the extreme cases that you hear about and they aren't the norm.
The thing is that the CEO's are just like the rest of Americans. Would you expect anything less? They are the what can you do for me right now type. There is no loyalty in American workplaces anymore. Who is to blame? Who knows. Was it caused by companies getting rid of older employees to bring in new blood? Was it caused by younger employees that were hungry for money and power, and who were willing to jump from one company to another to get it? I know very few people that have stayed with the same employer for more than 5 years and it is extremely tough to find people that earn their 30 year watch for 30 years of service with a company.
Corporate America is all screwed up, but it is all of America to blame. Everybody wants to make a quick buck. Stock brokers only care about making money off of you right now. Mutual funds charge a bunch of fees to make money off of you right now. In the end, it is a disaster because Americans want too much, and I find myself guilty of it every once in a while.