I can see why there is increasing grumbling about Capitalism... Bankrupt Sears wants to give executives $19 million in bonuses By Chris Isidore, CNN Business Updated 2:08 PM ET, Fri November 16, 2018 New York (CNN Business)Sears is seeking court approval to pay executives as much as $19 million in quarterly bonuses while the company struggles to restructure in bankruptcy. Three top executives could get nearly $1 million each if the company goes out of business. If Sears remains in business, they could get nearly $500,000 each for hitting the top performance targets. Sears filed two different types of bonus plans in bankruptcy court Thursday. The first is for the top 18 "key" executives, who would collectively get as much as $2.1 million per quarter. The bonuses would only be paid in full if Sears reaches its cash-flow targets. Sears Holdings, which includes both Sears and Kmart, has been burning through cash at a rate of about $125 million a month. A second retention bonus plan was designed to encourage 322 other unnamed executives to stay put during Sears' reorganization. They would collectively get $16.9 million a quarter, which works out to an average of about $52,000 per quarter per executive. No executive could receive more the $150,000 in bonuses for staying with the company during the bankruptcy process. A judge's approval is needed before the bonuses could be paid. A hearing on the plans is set for December 20. The company wants to retain as many executives as it can, but Sears is laying off employees who staffed hundreds of stores it is closing. Many hourly workers claim they will not be paid severance. ... https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/16/business/sears-executive-bonuses/index.html
The golden parachutes, the USA auto companies did that in the 90's when they were losing money too!!!!
People trying to find the “bad” in capitalism always seem to ignore the billions world wide that it is helping in absolutely incredible ways. Capitalism is the sole reason the world has taken off in the last two hundred years or so and has given billions the ability to climb the social ladder.
Doesn't happen any more. Corporate interests have captured regulators. We don't allow the natural process of creative destruction to occur because we are more concerned with protecting campaign financiers. Bailout after bailout has proven that to be the case. Capitalism can't work unless firms fail and we have lost an appetite for that.
What? Unregulated? That's clearly not true. Many many many US markets are highly regulated. You'd have a hard time substantiating that claim.
We speak to diff regulations. Publicly owned companies need better regulation at least bent on fairness. Like tying executive bonuses to company profits. Privately owned, do as they like, within the law.
Banks and insurance companies did that when they were laying off in the early nineties. The topnexecs got the Golden parachutes us managers and mid magement got screwed and did not even feel good !
It seems to be SOP for a lot of corporations. I recall back in the 80's when some airline went bankrupt, they cut the pay of the pilots and other employees while paying millions in retention bonuses to keep the same management that got them into that mess. I remember the pilots union suing and losing the case. When Beth steel went bankrupt my father lost part of his pension but corporate executives got their million dollar bonuses.
Love it, the Capitalists say its corruption and not Capitalism, while at the same time they argue against regulation and government that is sufficiently powerful to check the power of these monstrous corporations, which gobble up human beings and spit them out, all for some massive wealth scheme enriching those at the top. This fantasy of rational self interest, is more like irrational self exuberance of the rich, and irrational manipulated levels of consumption and labor for the rest, where everyone is overly stressed and getting seriously ill. Capitalism is not some fantasy in their heads, it is what exists in the world, what you see is what you get.