In response to the recent financial crisis, the Obama Administration and the Federal Reserve Board are capping executive salaries and bonuses, and imposing a host of new regulations and mandates all in the name of reducing risk. If the rule of unintended consequences applies anywhere, it applies here. Government pay rules have been tried before and have consistently increased the very salaries and special bonuses they intended to curb. Besides, a sense of risk instead of the certainty of taxpayer bail-outs is precisely what would rein in some of the reckless corporate practices rightly decried by the government and American citizens.
Founder of Bluemercury Barry Beck ’90 has been named this year s recipient of the Entrepreneur of the Year award and will receive the award at the annual Entrepreneurship at Cornell Celebration on April 14.