Debunking exec pay myth

If executive pay is on your list of hot-button issues, be sure to check out Gretchen Morgenson's latest column in the New York Times, The Rules on Bosses' Pay Seem Written With Pencil.

"Of all the big lies out there," she writes, "the one that corporate executives' pay is linked to the performance of their companies takes the prize."

For tax reasons, companies need to make sure that any executive pay above $1 million is performance-based. Morgenson notes that poor performers resort to a number of tactics to make that sure execs get the money, starting with simply lowering performance targets to mesh with reality.