Pearlstein on Executive Pay

Ignoring recalcitrant CEOs is probably the best approach for the business press when it comes to reigning in executive pay, says Washington Post business columnist Steven Pearlstein, who was online Wednesday discussing bonuses for top executives with readers. Pearlstein, who won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary earlier this week, didn’t hold back.

“I've somewhat given up on most public policy solutions to the executive
compensation problem. As I said before, social disapprobation is probably the
strongest tool. In the press, I think we should mostly just ignore them. They
have already lost their legitimacy in terms of public policy debates -- from a
political standpoint, nobody cares what CEOs think about anything any more. And
the press, for the most part, doesn't lionize them much any more….”

Click here to see transcript of the discussion.