It also has a golden parachute in place to make him feel like a winner if let go.

FORBES: When A Key Hire Won't Take "NO" For An Answer

This is a golden parachute that could allow us to pay down our debt more quickly than would otherwise be the case.

FORBES: How Risky Is The U.S. Level Debt?

But it's not like he jumped with a golden parachute.

WSJ: O Captain! My Captain!

Those rules include steps to take back executive benefits or compensation when appropriate and to insure that no one can walk away with a golden parachute while taxpayer money is at risk.

NPR: Is The U.S. 'Nationalizing' Banks?

And although research by Ramesh Khurana of the Sloan School of Management suggests that top executives are fired rather more often these days, they still tend to leave with options and pension rights intact and a comfortable golden parachute to soften the fall.

ECONOMIST: A survey on pay

The life of an organization is a series of complex transaction costs, and sometimes you just have to squelch enthusiastic innovation, promise a CEO an obscene golden parachute and banish the thought of ever putting shrimp salad on the menu because, if you happen to be McDonalds, you could endanger an entire species.

WSJ: Book Review: The Org

The so-called golden parachute goes back to a perfectly reasonable attempt to get CEOs to create even more value for their companies.

WSJ: In Defense of the CEO