Friday, June 27, 2014

Public Service in the 21st Century

One of the central tenets of our centrist technocratic leaders is that the real public policy experts are those who have risen through merit and diligence to become highly comped executives in key private sector firms. It's asking a lot, though, to ask them to give up their well-paid (and well-earned!) positions among the one percent to accept a government position. But today, there's no need for sacrifice.
Many large corporations with a strong incentive to influence public policy award bonuses and other incentive pay to executives if they take jobs within the government. CitiGroup, for instance, provides an executive contract that awards additional retirement pay upon leaving to take a “full time high level position with the U.S. government or regulatory body.” Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, the Blackstone Group, Fannie Mae, Northern Trust, and Northrop Grumman are among the other firms that offer financial rewards upon retirement for government service.
(h/t Gaius Publius)