

Madame Defarge Watch: Pay Disparity in US Exceeds France Under Its Last King - kurtosis
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/02/madame-defarge-watch-pay-disparity-in.html

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Brushfire
There are so many things wrong with this anecdote that I'm really not sure if
it is even worth debating. I'm not going to create a laundry list, since to do
so would just cover most points of both the articles.

However, it should be obvious to anyone reading this that the comparison isnt
fair, at all, since by and large it ignores the middle class. It is more
appropriate to compare averages, or income level brackets than the top and
bottom extremes.

The 'success' of our society has been that we elevated large sections of the
servants, slaves, and peasants to middle class, not that we have been or
should be motivated by having less rich people. Moreover, its important to
assess how rich people became rich, which also sets us, at least partially,
better than rich by hereditary land ownership. Finally, as a society, do we
really want to remove the ability to become filthy rich as a motivator?

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kurtosis
the 2000 US table includes NY city clerk with an income of 35k (close to the
US median) and a multiple of 3. an MD's take was a multiple of 157.

I agree with you that it's misleading because it doesn't include the relative
size of these classes. Someone should compute the GINI coefficient for the
1830's france.

If you have a situation where people take home paychecks 154 times larger than
the "middle-class" income for bankrupting their companies - this large middle
class feels unjustly treated (they are routinely fired for much lesser
offenses) and will vote for confiscatory legislation. Remember the behavioral
econ results about the irrational behavior in the ultimatum game.

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david927
eat the rich

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kyochan
Must be the smell of recession envy in the air.

