At this ESMT Open Lecture, Columbia Business School professor Bruce Kogut took a closer look at what inequality really is. Within the frame of the financial and debt crises of the recent past, he discussed inequality in general and the facts and ethics of executive pay. He approached some of the most puzzling questions. Do executives get paid through a 'market for talent' just like football stars get paid? Why did executive pay in the US, and in many countries including Germany, increase so rapidly in the past two decades? If the argument is that executives are compensated for the risk they bear, did they take on too much risk prior to the financial crisis? Do the ones least able and responsible have to bear the greatest burden? Is this fair? What should be done and what is being done? Should we tax salaries higher? Put limits on them? Improve governance? Let the market decide?
Published on Jun 12, 2013 https://www.esmt.org/open-lectures
