Obama’s Chief Bank HR Officer/Pay Czar goes to work

Posted by Marc Hodak on July 27, 2009 under Executive compensation, Politics, Reporting on pay | 3 Comments to Read

This paragraph says it all:

With public anger high over the rich pay packages awarded to some financial executives, Mr. Feinberg must walk a fine line between curbing pay at companies benefiting from taxpayer funds while not squeezing compensation so hard that it hurts the ability of companies to lure talent.

Mr. Feinberg is nicknamed the “Pay Czar,” no doubt because the Czar was such an inspiration in making the right trade-offs between populist demands and economic needs.

The irony is that Feinberg’s grandparents, like my own, may very well have been folks who escaped the Czar’s anti-semitic pogroms in the early part of the last century.  We wouldn’t dream of nicknaming to Feinberg an “Oberfuhrer.”   Perhaps a Commissar, Sotto Capo, or Underboss might be just as good.  If not, why do so many people consider a ‘czar’ such a desirable thing in a free country?

Other Michael Ramirez cartoons

HT:  Mike Perry