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Hightower Lowdown
"The difference between fact and fiction is that fiction must be believable."--Mark Twain
January's Lowdown
Yes we can manage this country without the corporate priesthood--the cooperative movement shows us how
We're being told by today's High Priests of Conventional Wisdom that everyone and everything in our economic cosmos necessarily revolves around one dazzling star: the corporation. This heavenly institution, the HPCW explain, has such financial and political mass that it is the optimal force for organizing and directing our society's economic affairs, including the terms of employment and production.
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In This Issue
The buying of the government 2004 (Part 1)
Bush II brought to you by...
Also in this issue:
- Growing up with your chip
- Merck execs' bailout loot
- One economic factor rising
- Hot peppers and 4-year tacos
- Your right to sue threatened
- Name that school!
- Growing up with your chip
- Merck execs' bailout loot
- One economic factor rising
- Hot peppers and 4-year tacos
- Your right to sue threatened
- Name that school!
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Merck execs' bailout loot
When drugmaker Merck recently withdrew its best-selling drug Vioxx (because it can cause heart attacks) company executives took their time disclosing this little problem to regulators, doctors, or patients, and now the company faces federal investigations and thousands of lawsuits.
Merck's stock price has plummeted by 40 percent, on top of a 30 percent slide caused by a lack of new products, all of which makes it a likely target for a takeover by another drug giant.
But Merck executives are quick on their feet when protecting their own personal interests. Their exec retirement plan says that if another company takes over Merck—or even just 20 percent of it—the top 230 executives can bail out with a golden parachute of three times their annual salaries, plus their expected bonuses, as well as stock payments. For example, CEO Raymond Gilmartin, who helped engineer this sweet deal, would get about $57 million to soften his landing.