Word: stocking
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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...center of a political tempest in the run-up to Spain's elections in March. The left-wing opposition to conservative Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, a boyhood friend of Villalonga's, attacked Aznar's coziness with the Telefonica chief and the Prime Minister's tacit approval of the stock-option scheme, which the opposition characterizes as a brazen display of corporate avarice. United Left party leader Francisco Frutos branded Villalonga a bad role model for Spain's youth and called for a ban on stock options. The Aznar government pleaded with Villalonga to renounce the profits on his options...
Maybe that's another reason why Europe has been slower to enjoy the economic boom radiating from the U.S., where options are the common currency of the new capitalist elite. In Germany and Finland, it was illegal to pay executives in stock options until 1998, and in countries from Belgium to Britain, tax laws made option plans unappealing to corporate boards and executives alike. In the Netherlands, recipients have to pay income tax on options as soon as they are bestowed, which is often years before they are cashed in. But intense competition for employees from option-rich firms abroad...
...hint that European executives are unduly padding their stock portfolios can still inspire public outrage. In France, polls last year showed that 66% of French citizens wanted to own stock options--until the so-called Jaffre affair exploded. That scandal was sparked by oil giant TotalFina's successful takeover of rival Elf-Aquitaine, and the $35 million stock-option package paid to vanquished Elf CEO Philippe Jaffre to bless the union and walk away. Furious French leftists--who derailed earlier government plans to lower the tax rate on stock-option earnings from 40% to 26%--responded with an unsuccessful campaign...
Tougher disclosure laws in countries like France and Germany would go a long way toward easing public suspicion of stock-option grants. It would also bring those countries closer to the more transparent corporate practices of the U.S.--a prospect, admittedly, at which many Europeans still bristle. As the equity-driven start-up wave of the new economy hits the Continent, the use of options by European businesses is bound to increase. And the larger debate will continue to rage: In a time of near ludicrous stock valuations, does anyone really deserve the fortunes gained through stock options...
...Mock, 39, is a divorced mother of three in Pontiac, Mich., and a former welfare client who until last Christmas had never worked steadily. But in their diversity, they exemplify one reason for the amazing length and strength of the U.S. boom. Despite all the recent gyrations in the stock market, the longest economic expansion in U.S. history has not only created incredible numbers of new jobs but also brought into the labor force the most varied sorts of new workers to fill those jobs and keep the economy humming...