How the crisis affects the world leaders’ earnings

Today, when the whole world is suffering consequences of the global crisis , when most of the countries are in the deepest recession, when even the largest corporations have to reduce their business significantly, when a lot of companies have to stop their activity, when people increasingly lose their jobs or have their salaries cut off at best, one important question is arising: whether the global economic recession influences somehow the incomes of the heads of the states, who are supposed to “take care” of the nations’ economic health. So let’s check which of the leaders earns more than others. 

The US President Barack Obama gets $ 400,000 annually, Prime Minister of UK Gordon Brown gets $353,188 annually, while Russian President Dmitry Medvedev earns just $81,000 (that reflects almost the five, and four and a half times difference respectively). At the same time, as www.paywizard.org shows, the former President of the USA, present Public speaker, Bill Clinton has $51,855,599.00 annually. Charles, Prince of Wales earns $ 26,043,520 annually, Willem-Alexander, Prince of the Netherlands - $1,290,240, Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands - $6,401,280, while Prime Minister of the Netherlands earns only $172,800 annually. 

These huge salaries can be compared to President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s earnings, who has just $5,337 per year; or to President of India Pratibha Patil’s incomes, who has $ 36,434.00, or to President of Argentina Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s salary, that equals $53,468. President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet gets $134,429.00 yearly. President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon gets $189,027.00 annually. Thus Prime Minister of Denmark has $181,517, while Prime Minister of Russia earns yearly only $69,468 per year. 

It’s obvious, that world leaders earnings don’t even depend on the size of the country. Well, probably the size of world leaders’ incomes could be explained from the point of country’s riches. Actually, earnings of the heads of the sates do not even reflect the results of their work. So it doesn’t matter how successful they are in their business they will get as much money as it’s possible and as their governments allow. However, exceptions also exist. Thus in 2007 salary of Ireland Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, was raised to € 310,000 (38,000 increase), that was the time when Ireland was lightly affected by the crisis. But in 2008 Brian Cowen, who stepped in after him, agreed to get €257,000. 

Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France, got his salary doubled in 2008, now he earns $346,000.00 annually. However, he didn’t succeed enough in leading the country through the economic crisis that made French dissatisfied. So last week France faced the wave of protest demonstrations. Another well-paid European leader is Gordon Brown, whose salary was reduced, but it was just because of sterling weakening against the dollar.

At the same time some leaders are trying to win their voters’ hearts by reducing their own salaries. Thereby Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia since 2006, halved the salary prescribed to him that made him elected by 67% of citizens.

Well, how could it happen, that the President of the USA, the country that suffered mostly, the country that gave a start for the global crisis, has the incomes that exceed the incomes of the majority of country leaders? And why, when enormous amount of people across the world have no jobs and no earnings for living, our rulers’ salary size cannot be reduced, moreover it grows? Well, we can continue to ask questions like these, but unfortunately they can just stay rhetorical for us…