US President-elect Joe Biden may have promised a “return to normalcy,” but the truth is that there is no going back. The world is changing in fundamental ways, and the actions the world takes in the next few years will be critical to lay the groundwork for a sustainable, secure, and prosperous future.
For more than 25 years, Project Syndicate has been guided by a simple credo: All people deserve access to a broad range of views by the world’s foremost leaders and thinkers on the issues, events, and forces shaping their lives. At a time of unprecedented uncertainty, that mission is more important than ever – and we remain committed to fulfilling it.
But there is no doubt that we, like so many other media organizations nowadays, are under growing strain. If you are in a position to support us, please subscribe now.
As a subscriber, you will enjoy unlimited access to our On Point suite of long reads and book reviews, Say More contributor interviews, The Year Ahead magazine, the full PS archive, and much more. You will also directly support our mission of delivering the highest-quality commentary on the world's most pressing issues to as wide an audience as possible.
By helping us to build a truly open world of ideas, every PS subscriber makes a real difference. Thank you.
LONDON – It’s annual general meeting (AGM) season for public companies around the world, and, as in previous years, one issue has been moving company news from the business section to the front page: executive pay. Companies continue to announce compensation packages for their top managers that leave people agape, not just because the gap between companies’ highest- and lowest-paid workers is so wide, but also because the compensation bears so little relation to firms’ performance.
Nonetheless, a concerted pushback has begun, led by a group that companies and their boards might actually pay attention to: their largest and most influential investors. Hedge funds, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds are stating that they are looking closely at C-suite remuneration, and that it is time to take reform seriously.
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, worth $870 billion, has said that it is setting its sights on pay structures. Aberdeen Asset Management and Royal London Asset Management were among a group of shareholders who strongly objected to BP’s proposed 20% increase in compensation for CEO Bob Dudley in a year when BP made record losses, and they joined 59% of investors in rejecting the package. Though the BP vote was non-binding, it was a clear signal to the company and its board.
We hope you're enjoying Project Syndicate.
To continue reading, subscribe now.
Subscribe
orRegister for FREE to access two premium articles per month.
Register
Already have an account? Log in