Sunlight = Disinfectant

Here's an interesting Political Animal post that's already scrolled off into the archives: Sunlight = Disinfectant:

....Barney Frank has introduced a piece of legislation that I like. Executive compensation has been taking a bigger and bigger bite out of corporate profits over the past decade (up from 4.8% of profit in 1993 to 10.3% in 2003 just for the top five executives at the average company), and he thinks that companies ought to be a wee bit more open about who's getting all this dough.

To that end, he's proposed a bill that does nothing at all to tell corporations how much they can pay their executives, but does force them to be open with shareholders about how much they're shelling out.

I'd love to hear more about this. It is the kind of idea that I think fits well with the notion of a new progressivism that Kevin Drumm is championing. Don't put the burden on government or regulators. Instead, empower individuals with the information they need to act effectively.