tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172766774137902766.post5660591891521039554..comments2023-12-23T09:28:20.869+00:00Comments on The View from Cullingworth: How much a footballer - or a cleaner - is paid is none of the Government's business whatever Polly Toynbee and the BBC might say.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172766774137902766.post-58449943781504057862010-10-26T21:58:55.413+01:002010-10-26T21:58:55.413+01:00What I am missing in this conversation is some kin...What I am missing in this conversation is some kind of economic, social or moral framework on the basis of which you base your arguments.<br /><br />I can accept the argument about shortages and I agree that whatever is seen as 'obscene' very much depends on what you compare it with.<br /><br />It still does not make clear why there is so much difference between real pay, and desired pay - and why the difference between the highest and lowest in the salary chain is as big as it is. How did this happen?<br /><br />I have tried to come up with a framework, please do have a look - you can download it and then fill in the scores in Excel. It's an interesting exercise and I welcome your comments.<br /><br />Thanks!<br />https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AjbtM2Klai8kdDBBdWstWk1nbEtjblZQWXlWMDR1N2c&hl=en#gid=0Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172766774137902766.post-20533080346999609702010-09-19T22:09:00.590+01:002010-09-19T22:09:00.590+01:00I wrote about this back when the World Cup was on:...I <a href="http://furious-teen.blogspot.com/2010/06/footballers-deserve-their-high-salaries.html" rel="nofollow">wrote about this</a> back when the World Cup was on:<br /><br /><i>"Tap water is worth a lot less than diamonds on the free market. But imagine if we priced consumer goods on the free market according to moral worth. Tap water needs to cost £1,000 a litre to give water providers the morally correct reward for their efforts, which help keep millions alive. Meanwhile, diamond sellers should be forced to charge as little as possible for their products, since they are not as important as water. Those of you with a trace of common sense will see that, after all, it is better to have tap water cost a fraction of a penny per litre, and diamonds to cost up to several thousand pounds, because in an economy, the consumer is the one who must be served, not the producer.<br /><br />If we were to decide between all the teachers in Britain and all the footballers in Britain, we would choose to pay all the teachers more. However, the marginal utility of each individual teacher is much lower than the marginal utility of each individual footballer. When a teacher retires (with an obscenely high pension), quits their job (fat chance!) or gets fired (fat chance!), they are easy to replace. There is no shortage of people who want to become a teacher and have all the necessary skills (and with the good salary and long holidays, perhaps it is the teachers who are really the overpaid ones?). However, there are very few people in England who can score as well as Jermain Defoe or keep goal as well as Robert Green (yes, yes, I know), making them much more difficult to replace, and therefore much more valuable."</i>deadaccount.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06385177279765451001noreply@blogger.com