Monday, April 25, 2016

If the Creative Minds Stayed at the Top, Our Economy Would be Better

   Some time ago, I believe I blogged on how it would be good to keep the people who produce the product in charge of the product.
   Let doctors run the show in medicine, dictating how much their patients are charged, and how many patients they see.
   About a week ago, I was writing about how it would be good to strip the the defense industry of the layer of fat at the top, if I can call it that. I just wonder if we couldn't pare off most of the top executives with no harm being done. I was thinking in terms of reducing our military bills.
   As I went to bed, two thoughts came to me:
   1. When an industry starts, the creative minds are usually running the business. Look no further than the computer industry: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, etc. Then, think back to the automotive industry, and how Henry Ford ran Ford Motors. I do wonder how we could fashion our economy so that the creative minds remain at the forefront, and remain in command of our businesses.
   2. If we could strip the exorbitant pay of executives from our companies, the mystery of what to do about the income divide would be solved. No longer would the top 2 percent be so much richer than the rest of us. How to achieve this? How to keep superfluous executives from planting themselves at the top? In the defense industry, it might could be done. The U.S. government would simply not accept bids from companies whose executives pass a certain salary threshold.
   But, do we take this solution further? Do we outlaw executives who market in the private sector from making too much money? Do we say, you cannot earn beyond  a certain threshold?
   . . . Or, do we say, Unless it is your product? Now, we are putting the creative minds back in charge of their companies.

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