Confronting the captains of industry

Barack Obama on Wednesday accused business leaders of being “tone deaf” about the economic challenges facing ordinary Americans and called on bank executives to forgo their Christmas bonuses.

Urging a new “ethic of responsibility” in US society, the president-elect said it was wrong for bankers who had gambled away other people’s money to be rewarded with huge bonuses.

In an interview with Barbara Walters on ABC, he said: “If you are already worth tens of millions of dollars, and you are having to lay off workers, the least you can do is say ‘I’m willing to make some sacrifice’.”

Mr Obama also singled out leaders of the big three US carmakers for flying by private jets to a recent congressional hearing and questioned why they were receiving bigger salaries than their better-performing Japanese counterparts.

“I thought maybe they’re a little tone deaf to what’s happening in America right now,” he said, referring to the heads of General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. “This has been a chronic problem ... for the captains of industry, generally.”

This is what the President of the United States should be saying publicly. If he's going to remain silent, it's reassuring to hear the President-elect stepping up to the plate.

On a related matter, see this post re responsible corporate leadership, and this one re the salary of a Japanese CEO.