By Jim Randle
Voice of America, July 20, 2017
WASHINGTON — A study by the Economic Policy Institute says the chief executive officers of America's largest firms were paid an average of $15.6 million each in 2016.
In a report published Thursday, authors Lawrence Mischel and Jessica Schieder say that amount is 271 times as much as a "typical" worker's earnings at those same corporations. That ... is still "light years" higher than the 20-to-1 gap between workers and bosses in 1965, or the 59-to-1 difference that was measured in 1989. ...
At the other end of the economic spectrum, meanwhile, the lowest paid full-time U.S. workers get a minimum wage of just over $15,000 a year. While most workers earn more, and many states have a higher minimum wage, those on the bottom rung earn around 1/1,000 as much as top-level CEOs.
The U.S. national minimum wage of $7.25 per hour has not been increased in eight years. A group called Business for a Fair Minimum Wage contends inflation during that period has cut the value of those already-low wages by about 12 percent.
While many businesses argue that raising the minimum wage will result in fewer jobs at the lower end of the economic spectrum, Business for a Fair Minimum Wage said higher wages for the lowest-paid workers could stimulate demand and help the economy.