The lead story in the March 31, 1997 issue of The Wall Street Journal was an in depth study of the life of a seventy-three year old man. This man is still forced to punch a time clock and his duties involve demanding manual labor. His Social Security benefits arent enough to cover his monthly expenses therefore, retirement is not in his plans (Ramirez 1). In the same issue of The Wall Street Journal there was an article covering the details of PepsiCos Chief Executive Officers compensation plan. In 1997 PepsiCos CEO was paid $2.2 million in salary and bonus plus stock options for 1.7 million shares (Quintans 6). These stock options may be exercised over the next eight to ten years. If PepsiCos stock rises at five percent per year, these stock options will be worth around $32 million by the year 2006. Over the past ten years, the American economy has enjoyed a level of success it has never seen before. Businesses report record profit levels and hold expectations that profit levels will continue to rise. The stock market continues to rise and in doing so increases businesses bottom line. Americans have always assumed that when their company succeeds, all employees will share in that success. However, for most, that assumption has not proven to be true. As a matter of fact, only those at the top level of management have seen an appreciable increase in their compensation. The combination of employee compensation being held flat and top-level management compensation spiraling upward has served to increase the income gap to an almost unconscionable level. Over the past decade CEO compensation has increased by 212% while the average factory worker has seen his/her wages rise by 54%. In the latter part of 1997 Business Week reported that executive pay is out of control(Butoyi 91). Take for example the case of Green Tree Financial Services CEO Lawrence Coss. Green Tree finances mobile home loans. In 1997 Mr. Coss earned $102 million. A min...
