"Prosperity can't be just for CEOs and hedge fund managers." - Hillary Clinton

IT seems inevitable that the unfolding presidential campaign will also become a referendum on American capitalism and, in turn, that capitalism will be defined in part by lofty executive pay. This makes CEOs among capitalism's worst advocates. They have constituted themselves as a new economic aristocracy, but in the process they've become an engine of inequality and sacrificed much public trust.

Lavish CEO pay is no secret. Reviewing the largest 350 firms, Lawrence Mishel and Alyssa Davis of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute find that CEO pay averaged US$16.3 million in 2014. The New York Times, citing estimates from the consulting firm Equilar, reports that the 200 best-paid CEOs averaged US$22.6 million.