Obviously it's more complicated than that, but the "we have to pay for the best and brightest!" meme starts to sound a lot more like self-dealing when it turns

Obviously it's more complicated than that, but the "we have to pay for the best and brightest!" meme starts to sound a lot more like self-dealing when it turns out the best and brightest do approximately the same quality job as one of those dipper things that replaced Homer Simpson at the nuclear plant for a week once. Well said. My post above explains why CEO pay actually results in a worse product. The "best and the brightest are not the ones who end up as CEOs of big companies." Pick one at random out of the Fortune 500. Give me a year to study the company and then replace him with me; I'm now the top dog. There is a 60% chance I will do a better job. I'm 26 and have no advanced degree. Do the same with a small business or a farm. There is almost a 0% chance I will do a better job. What does this say about large companies and their management?