An average American CEO of a typical American company made $9.6 million last year (2011). The median salary for American workers is $39,312. Do the math: that worker would have to work for 244 years to equal one year's income for his company's CEO.

In 2011, on average, ordinary workers received a 1% pay raise. The top executives' salaries increased by 6%.

(Information above from AP. Below is further information from Slate.com.)

Companies run by CEOs who are veterans of military service are less likely to commit fraudulent transactions than those run by non-veteran Chief Executive Officers, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard and Boston Universities.

They also found that CEOs who had served in the military headed companies which experienced lower returns for their stockholders.

I wonder why. Does their military experience incline them to avoid risky business behavior? Less likely to be rule breakers? More aware of ethical impact of certain corporate actions?

Maybe I'm asking the wrong questions. The U.S. military services are all voluntary (no draft), so we're talking about a self-selecting population to start with.