Capital Gains

Many of our economic problems come from the manipulation of the stock market.  Corporate executives and other stock manipulators use the current laws to make enormous profits on which they pay very little tax.  CEOs have very little interest in the long term viability of the corporations they run.  Their interest is in enormous personal gain.   A key manipulation is the granting of stock options to corporate executives.  Two key changes are needed:

Short term capitol gains should be taxed as ordinary income.  Only money at risk for five years or longer should qualify for the lower capital gains rates.  The longer term for capital gains would encourage executives and other investors to be more concerned with the long term health of corporations.  

When a stock option is exercised, the recipient should pay personal income tax on the difference between the price he paid and the trading price for the stock on the day of the transaction.  That same difference should be shown as an expenditure on corporate books.