By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – So what's going on now; the progress and follow-up on some stories that caught our eye. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.
You might remember a few weeks ago, I expressed my shock and disgust with the Accounting Oversight Board. That's the committee under the SEC to police corporate accounting. Brand spanking new and leaderless, the board voted to give themselves an annual salary of $452,000 each - a mere $52,000 over the president's salary. And whenever they find someone honest enough to head the board, he or she will receive $560,000 a year. Well, Congress got wind of this and they were very unhappy, to say the least. First the Senate last week accepted a budget amendment barring federal salaries above the $400,000 that President Bush makes. And according to the Wall Street Journal, that got the Senate Banking Committee upset because the accounting board is their child. But that's too bad, because the House and Senate Appropriations Committees were infuriated and they hold the purse strings for the SEC. Now everyone is up in a tether for where will they find anyone to work for under $400,000 a year. The President, the accounting oversight board - can you see the challenge?!
About four months ago, Gap Inc.'s CEO and Chairman Millard Drexler resigned. The Gap had fallen out of grace with the trendy shopper. Same-store sales were down twenty-five months in a row. It was Drexler over his nineteen-year reign though, that took Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy to the heights it enjoyed for most of those years. Don't worry about Gap - they posted some of the best sales this holiday season, while other retailers struggled. And definitely don't worry about Mr. Drexler. As of yesterday, he is now the new CEO of itty-bitty rival J. Crew Group. Sounds like a good fit.
And the new motto of the soon to be approved Secretary of Treasury John Snow is "I favor a strong dollar." Unlike his predecessor Paul O'Neill, who just wanted the U.S. dollar to fall where it may. For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m. To contact Maxine Shapiro, please send emails to mshapiro@kera.org.