TOP SALARIES CUT

LOTS of governments appoint so-called “czars” but very few of them act with the renowned ruthlessness of those after whom they are named. An exception, it seems, is Kenneth Feinberg, the “pay czar” in Barack Obama's administration who has let it be known that he has demanded salary cuts of 90 per cent from some twenty-five senior executives in companies which have still not paid back the rescue packages they were given by the government at this time last year. The companies affected are Bank of America and Citigroup, the insurer American International Group (AIG), and the car manufacturers General Motors and Chrysler. Having learnt that bonuses might rise by 50 per cent in these and other major US companies this year, Mr Feinberg decided that he had to take action to placate angry taxpayers. These measures have come in a week when there are growing signs of dissatisfaction with the attitude of British banking boardrooms to the bonus culture. The Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, the City Minister, Lord Myners, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer have all addressed the issue - but mainly in terms of exhortation rather than direct action. The City of London is not Wall Street and what works in one centre might not in another. Nonetheless the American example, although limited and short-term, does have the merit of hitting where it will hurt and setting an example that might be worth following or adapting elsewhere.