Closing the Gap

CEOs earn 350x time more than the average worker

In Inequality For All, the documentary we watched in class, Robert Reich discusses the immense pay gap existing between CEOs and their employees. He claims that a CEO's pay is about 350 times that of an average worker. This gap is ridiculous and unnecessary. It creates a greater disparity between the upper and lower classes, while greatly diminishing the middle class. Reich insists that a strong middle class is the key to a stable economy. If this wage gap continues to widen, the United States will struggle to maintain a strong economy.

Fortunately, I watched a story on the news recently about one CEO trying to reduce the gap between his earnings and the earnings of his employees.  The CEO of Gravity Payments, Dan Price, decided to cut his salary from $1 million to $70,000 so that all of his employees could make at least a $70,000 annual salary in the next three years. Price's decision to raise the salaries of many of his staffers while cutting his own earnings was an extremely bold but incredible move. Price claimed that he was initially prompted to increase the pay of his employees after reading a study relating income to happiness. Additional income up to $75,000 makes a significant improvement in a person's overall emotional well-being. I hope more CEOs follow Price's lead and start to consider the well-being of their employees, as well. The world would become a much happier and more economically-stable environment.