Juggling Dynamite

The Rule of Law on which democracy is premised requires that rules and due process be clearly defined in advance so that outcomes are not left to the arbitrary decisions of individual government officials.

Most Canadians rarely give much thought to their Governor General. But with the polls forecasting a minority government, Democracy Watch founder Duff Conacher says it’s time we start addressing the unwritten authority of the vice regal. Conacher warns that if no party wins a majority in Monday’s election, Governor General David Johnston’s role could go from ribbon cuttings and fancy hats to appointing the next prime minister and the length of their term.

Listen to this CBC audio report:  Could this election trigger a constitutional crisis?

Danielle was a guest with Kerry Lutz on The Financial Survival Network talking about recent developments in the world markets and economy.  You can listen to an audio clip of the segment here.

This is not an anti-capitalist argument or about some people taking on more risk and earning appropriately more for their efforts.  This is the opposite: where an extortion culture has flourished through publicly traded corporations over the past 30 years, all while personal accountability has fallen in lockstep. These unsustainable trends need to mean revert significantly before more stable social and economic systems can evolve.   As Henry Ford and many others have proven repeatedly, sharing the wealth with workers is critical to expanding a positive multiplier effect.  As is paying women equal pay for equal work, which a new report suggests would add trillions to the presently moribund world economy.  See:  Could gender equality boost global GDP by trillions?

The below chart shows what people in various countries surveyed expressed as a reasonable CEO-to-worker pay ratio in their opinion.  This “ideal” and then the “actual” current ratio in each country is shown beside, as well as the actual average pay for CEO’s and workers in that country. The last column shows what average workers would earn if the ‘ideal’ ratio in each country was maintained relative to the existing CEO pay levels.  Obviously these ‘ideal’ worker salaries are outrageous and therefore effectively reveal how heinously inflated CEO pay is today.

Watch this video report from Harvard Business Rreview: CEOs get paid too much