He does know that executives don't set their own pay, right? And that executive compensation is reported in proxy statements for public firms? And that firm management can be sued if it violates its fiduciary duty to the shareholders?
Maybe Phil is trying to make a point here, I just don't get it.
Excellent response. Public firms report all of their expenses so it shouldn't be hard to see how their money is spent - just look at their income statements and statement of cash flows.
I think the real reason why banks aren't reporting how the TARP money is spent is because they don't know.
Cash comes in, cash goes out. But it's hard to match specific cash outflows (besides variable costs - and even those can be tough) to specific cash inflows.
Maybe Phil is trying to make a point here, I just don't get it.