Kristof's happy thought of the day

Imagine how much more fun this would be if social security had been privatized...

Kristof - Save the Fat Cats - NYTimes.com

....For those of you accustomed to bull markets, who think we’re sure to come out of this quickly, remember this: Japan’s main stock index is still less than one-third of its level of 19 years ago...

Lovely. Of course our market has been basically flatline since about 2000, so maybe there's hope.

Something I didn't know:

....A starting point would be to remove tax subsidies on executive pay .... The Institute for Policy Studies in Washington estimates that U.S. taxpayers every year provide more than $20 billion in tax subsidies for executive pay....

So why didn't I know this? Is it common knowledge? What else don't I know?