Hi Barbara, While I have nothing against folks being worth a billion dollars, I do believe that tax loopholes for them (actually anyone making more than $1 million a year) should be closed. Also an annual tax on net worth for those worth more than $100 million would seem to be appropriate. The problem with limiting CEO's, athletes or celebrity's compensation is that those frequently obscene amounts are the result of supply and demand for the talent or managerial skills. Artists have talents too...so do we limit how much an artist can charge for a painting or how much an author can make from book sales? Not easy issues. It the CEO of McDonald's was limited to 100 times the multiple of a $20 an hour minimum wage, he or she would be able to earn $4,160,000 a year...which is plenty. But if she or he could go over to Ford and make 100 times the average hourly wage of $30.44 an hour, the result would be $6,331,520 per year. Wage/income disparity does need to be addressed but trade skills, education levels and ability need to be rewarded too. If an inventor were limited to "X amount" for the invention of a hot new product, then why bother trying to be innovative? We knew a man who played the stock market. He was very good at it and he made millions. He paid taxes but how to measure him against the average worker. Another thing to remember relates to hours worked. While I certainly wasn't at the upper end of the salaried management at my company, I was paid decently but not so much on an hourly basis as I was working 72 hours a week on average. Less than double what a burger flipper makes in California per hour but with more than 300 direct reports from coast to coast... This is a tough issue that does need some kind of solution but I'm not smart enough to provide an answer. Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
So many, time for them to pay their fair share of taxes! Take care, have a great day!
ReplyDelete...and soon there will be trillionaires!
ReplyDeleteThe disparity between CEOs, major sports starts, and front line workers is horrid!
ReplyDeleteHi Barbara, While I have nothing against folks being worth a billion dollars, I do believe that tax loopholes for them (actually anyone making more than $1 million a year) should be closed. Also an annual tax on net worth for those worth more than $100 million would seem to be appropriate. The problem with limiting CEO's, athletes or celebrity's compensation is that those frequently obscene amounts are the result of supply and demand for the talent or managerial skills. Artists have talents too...so do we limit how much an artist can charge for a painting or how much an author can make from book sales? Not easy issues. It the CEO of McDonald's was limited to 100 times the multiple of a $20 an hour minimum wage, he or she would be able to earn $4,160,000 a year...which is plenty. But if she or he could go over to Ford and make 100 times the average hourly wage of $30.44 an hour, the result would be $6,331,520 per year. Wage/income disparity does need to be addressed but trade skills, education levels and ability need to be rewarded too. If an inventor were limited to "X amount" for the invention of a hot new product, then why bother trying to be innovative? We knew a man who played the stock market. He was very good at it and he made millions. He paid taxes but how to measure him against the average worker. Another thing to remember relates to hours worked. While I certainly wasn't at the upper end of the salaried management at my company, I was paid decently but not so much on an hourly basis as I was working 72 hours a week on average. Less than double what a burger flipper makes in California per hour but with more than 300 direct reports from coast to coast... This is a tough issue that does need some kind of solution but I'm not smart enough to provide an answer. Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
ReplyDeleteThe money that some people make is just insane. I hope they are giving a lot of it away!
ReplyDelete