Why Are CEOs Paid So Much More Than You?

Video Description

Chief executives in the UK and the US are now paid hundreds of times more than the people who actually create value in their companies. This is not innovation or entrepreneurship – it is extraction. In this video, I explain why extreme executive pay is a driver of inequality, weak productivity, falling morale, and political corruption. I also show how tax can be used not to raise revenue, but to change behaviour – by making excessive pay expensive. Drawing on proposals I developed for the TUC and current legislation proposed in the United States, I explain how fair pay ratios could be enforced through the tax system, why shareholders – not society – should bear the cost of excess, and why democracy itself is at risk if we do nothing. Tax exists to shape outcomes. This is one outcome that it must shape. Let us know your thoughts by voting in our poll: https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkx-AbRJoS4zpd1QcFuwpsiJNDkzHM2nQDO 00:00 Executive Pay Crisis 01:05 Inequality by Design 02:10 Extraction, Not Innovation 03:00 Using Tax to Shape Behaviour 04:00 Proposal: Limit Tax Relief on Excess Pay 05:15 How the Tax Penalty Works 06:10 The Sanders–Tlaib US Proposal 07:15 Making Excessive Pay Expensive 08:10 Democratic Risks of Extreme Wealth 09:30 Worker Power & Fair Pay 10:45 Using Tax to Restore Fairness TRANSCRIPT A transcript for this video is available at: https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/12/14/big-company-chief-executives-dont-create-value-they-extract-it/ IF YOU WANT TO WRITE TO YOUR MP ABOUT ISSUES IN THIS VIDEO If you want to write a letter to your MP on the issues raised in this blog post, there is a ChatGPT prompt to assist you in doing so, with full instructions, here. https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/06/20/chatgpt-prompt-for-a-letter-to-your-mp/ HOW TO SUPPORT US Please consider donating: https://ko-fi.com/taxresearch ABOUT RICHARD MURPHY Richard Murphy is Emeritus Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University Management School. He is director of Tax Research LLP and the author of the Funding the Future blog. His best-known book is ‘The Joy of Tax’. This video was edited by Thomas Murphy. RICHARD MURPHY ON BLUESKY: https://bsky.app/profile/richardjmurphy.bsky.social OR ON MY BLOG: http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/ HIT SUBSCRIBE & GET NOTIFICATIONS Subscribe and get notified of new videos released. INTRODUCTION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdHsRPy3060 PLAYLISTS: The Wealth Series https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobQLeyZYAagFDMjEFTKbhRD Ecenomics https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgob54Gs-fOL-8OAQ-IpduwB4 Britain https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobwTT4ATvJjsf8OO6S7wD10 Tax https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoaMni_12J6ULp3yUJisUZoY MMT https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoZ6jvRGSW5YXu8qogE6aClX Money https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYnLk1c7syTvoIo8bKYUs5m Climate Change https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgob4_wsYaVivWd2WumpPLYwJ USA https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYYd3dSyU2Oyl3x7bWJOP7H Labour https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoa-KhzG-fnjDSg1WROL1zMw The Trump Administration https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobz41-GLimTho27A3flVWQx #ExecutivePay #TaxReform #WealthInequality #FairWages #CorporateGreed #CEOPayGap #EconomicJustice #WorkersRights #ShareTheWealth #StopGreedflation #PayRatio #TaxTheRich #ReformNow #CorporateAccountability #DemocracyNotPlutocracy #WealthTax #RewardWorkNotWealth #InequalityCrisis #WorkersMatter #IncomeFairness #StopExtraction #EconomicReform #PowerToWorkers #ProgressiveEconomics #TaxPolicy #CorporateResponsibility #AccountableCapitalism #FairEconomy #EndWealthAbuse #ValueLaborNotRentiers