Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Alan Pyke observes that instead of reflecting any particular merit, massive payouts to CEOs are all too often made despite (or because of) executive incompetence and illegality:

The best-paid CEOs in American business have overseen companies that were bailed out, been fired, and been caught committing fraud at alarming rates over the past 20 years, a new report finds. Out of the spots on an annual list of the highest-paid CEOs, nearly four in ten have gone to individuals who were eventually “Bailed Out, Booted, Busted,” according to the 2013 edition of the Institute for Policy Studies’ (IPS) review of CEO pay and performance.

The IPS report draws on the Wall Street Journal’s annual list of the 25 best-paid chief executives, dating back to 1994. Of the 241 individuals who have appeared on the list over the past two decades, a full 32 percent have overseen bailouts, been booted from their posts, or been busted for fraud. Report co-author Sarah Anderson told ThinkProgress that “many poorly performing CEOs appeared on the top-paid lists year after year.”

- And in that vein, ProPublica documents how the oil industry is ripping off both the public treasury and private landowners by withholding royalties with no apparent explanation.

- Meanwhile, David Hasemyer reports on Enbridge's less-than-reassuring track record when it comes to both pipeline safety and spill cleanup.

- Devon Black rightly challenges our elected representatives not to feed into anti-tax hysteria. But Rosemary Thompson notes that the Cons are going several steps beyond dangerous rhetoric by continuing to cut actual tax enforcement.

- Finally, Laura Eggertson writes about the continued efforts of Anna Reid and the Canadian Medical Association to highlight and act on the social determinants of health.