Payday Loans and Netflix CEO: The People’s Choice

Of the people, for the people

Payday loans help people from all walks of life through little emergencies with extra cash. In a certain sense, there’s a populist tinge to them. Big banks want to take the average person’s financial choice away, while companies like payday lenders offer a bridge to short-term financial empowerment. It’s just one reason that the product has been as popular as it has, particularly in difficult times.

In the corporate world, a populist-style view is very rare. However, as Rick Newman of U.S. News and World Report shows us, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings may just be one of those rare exceptions. Newman reports that Hastings’ recent New York Times op-ed piece goes after the “big government” approach President Obama is taking with capping CEO salaries. He calls it “a terrible idea,” but he does recognize the need for change.

So what does he propose? “Tax me!” he says. Or anyone else who earns over $1 million – AT 50 PERCENT.

Care to explain, Mr. Hastings?

“Some will tell you that would reduce the incentive to earn but I don’t see that as likely. Besides, half of a giant compensation package is still pretty huge, and most of our motivation is the sheer challenge of the job anyway,” he says.

What a message! Is it true the Hastings isn’t motivated solely by the money, as it would appear? It may be so. Faxless payday loan companies aren’t turning obscene profits, but thousands continue to campaign in their favor. Not only for their jobs, but for the values of financial self-determination and a free market. Hastings certainly knows – as Newman puts it – that

it’s more important than ever to form an emotional bond with your customer. That was true before Wall Street cratered, because the Internet has enhanced accountability and knocked down barriers between the people at the top of the food chain and the people at the bottom. It’s even more true now, as titans like Citigroup and General Motors and Bernie Madoff topple and the little guy gets revenge. Or at least a hearing.

The little guy’s revenge

If there were more CEOs like Reed Hastings, perhaps the public perception of the corporate world – that of greed – would change somewhat. If nothing else, that could certainly help foster an environment where trust and fair competition would reign. For the average person or even the upper class consumer who depends upon payday loans in a pickle, a bit more reason to trust the financial institutions that have tried to take away choice and monopolize the market would be planted in the soil.