In Defense if a Maximum Wage

[Vespertania]

I think you should elaborate more in your OP, and consider people who follow a career path for reasons other than money. Your idea is pretty good in part - aiming it toward bankers working on wall street at the very least.

I'm inclined to support a maximum wage anyway. Fuck the billionaire plutocracy.

[Great Minarchistan]

The government has no right to limit people's wealth.

wtf first time I agree with you

[Shofercia]

What's your opinion of a "maximum wage" (or salary)?

Fully supportive. I think $10,000,000 as the maximum is a fair number.

Communist

[Purgatio]

A thousand times this. Many of the world's most economically-prosperous countries, in terms of GDP per capita, like Qatar, the UAE, Singapore, Monaco and Hong Kong (not a country I know) got that way by creating low-tax, low-regulation, business-friendly environments. Funnily enough, investment, productivity and consumption tend to be encouraged when you make it easier to work, earn money and do business.

They’re not prosperous. Those governments are basically oriental despotisms and many people live in absolute poverty. There are apartments in Hong Kong the size of bathrooms in the US. It’s not about some blind worship of economic growth - it’s about the welfare of people living in those countries.

I will point out right wing economic policies actually make it harder to work.

Countries like Singapore are ranked high on metrics like GDP per capita, Human Development Index, PISA education rankings, WHO rankings and many others which seek to measure the average quality of life. Clearly, by most objective quantifiable metrics, the quality of life of the average Singaporean is far above the international average (or even the average amongst developed countries). This notion that Singapore is filled with a tiny number of rich oligarchs and swarms of impoverished masses suffering everyday is ridiculous. Singapore's economis growth has yielded quantifiable benefits for its people, not just the rich.

Also, what's up with the vaguely-racist slur of 'Oriental depotism'?

[Darussalam]

They’re not prosperous. Those governments are basically oriental despotisms and many people live in absolute poverty. There are apartments in Hong Kong the size of bathrooms in the US. It’s not about some blind worship of economic growth - it’s about the welfare of people living in those countries.

I will point out right wing economic policies actually make it harder to work.

More like occidental despotism.

Hong Kong was enormously more authoritarian under British colonial administration (and, probably not so coincidentally, grew the most rapidly under the same regime). Housing problem in Hong Kong is primarily caused by limited land supply and market regulations on land use (says the infamous far-right laissez-faire shills at Vox - land in Hong Kong is state-owned). Meanwhile, major cities in the US have broadly similar problem caused by too many political rights instead - every homeowner has the right to veto development projects in their neighborhood for the pettiest of reasons beyond their property claims. People who live in coffinhomes in Hong Kong would end up homeless drug addicts in 'Frisco instead.

Welfare-wise there's a substantial improvement in their life caused by economic growth in the last five decades. Hong Kong is up high on various global rankings of population's well-being. It's just a matter of fact that there's no state welfare program whatsoever that could improve well-being as considerably as market-driven industrialization - welfare net policies are generally implemented to cover up the small margins left, and usually at a huge cost, which is why developing countries are better off adopting center-right market reforms than the Licence Raj. Sheltered, privileged, and not very mathematically literate first world people routinely underestimate the importance of economic growth and favor to abandon it in favor of "wealth equality" instead, but an one percent difference in annual growth results in the difference of Mexican and American quality of life in the long-term.

[Pope Joan]

Ben and Jerrys set maximum executive compensation at 7 times that which the basic line worker would earn,'

It worked well for them, ans should for any corporation

[Anglomir]

It’d be better to limit the amount people in a company can earn in comparison to the lowest paid worker. So if you make it that no one can earn 20x the lowest paid worker, any CEO who wants a massive salary would have to increase the pay of their workers.

And obviously it’d have to include bonuses, portfolio pay, ect. And harsh penalties for evasion.

This is a brilliant idea.

[Purgatio]

Ben and Jerrys set maximum executive compensation at 7 times that which the basic line worker would earn,'

It worked well for them, ans should for any corporation

I'd like to see any law firm pay its top Senior Partners only 7 times what it pays its cleaners, or a private hospital which paid its best surgeons 7 times what it paid its cashier at the pharmacy. I highly-suspect you're gonna see a massive brain-drain. Actions have consequences in an economy, certain professions earn a lot because the labour they provide to the market is in high demand, and there are comparatively fewer persons able to supply that niche labour. Cut their wages and there will be a brain-drain as people in these professions who were offering their labour at a high price leave into other industries and professions.

[Trumptonium1]

A thousand times this. Many of the world's most economically-prosperous countries, in terms of GDP per capita, like Qatar, the UAE, Singapore, Monaco and Hong Kong (not a country I know) got that way by creating low-tax, low-regulation, business-friendly environments. Funnily enough, investment, productivity and consumption tend to be encouraged when you make it easier to work, earn money and do business.

They’re not prosperous. Those governments are basically oriental despotisms and many people live in absolute poverty. There are apartments in Hong Kong the size of bathrooms in the US. It’s not about some blind worship of economic growth - it’s about the welfare of people living in those countries.

I will point out right wing economic policies actually make it harder to work.

If you have a better suggestion on how to build houses so they're not the size of bathrooms when you have to put 60 000 people per square kilometre, please do tell the Hong Kongese, they've been searching for an answer for the last 100 years but here you come along apparently with the golden hot take.

[The Blaatschapen]

Ben and Jerrys set maximum executive compensation at 7 times that which the basic line worker would earn,'

It worked well for them, ans should for any corporation

I'd like to see any law firm pay its top Senior Partners only 7 times what it pays its cleaners, or a private hospital which paid its best surgeons 7 times what it paid its cashier at the pharmacy. I highly-suspect you're gonna see a massive brain-drain. Actions have consequences in an economy, certain professions earn a lot because the labour they provide to the market is in high demand, and there are comparatively fewer persons able to supply that niche labour. Cut their wages and there will be a brain-drain as people in these professions who were offering their labour at a high price leave into other industries and professions.

As if a law firm has its own cleaners rather than outsourced it to a cleaning company

See, this is what will happen. All low earners in a company will be split off into their own company, outsourced to another company, or become freelancers, etc.

[Purgatio]

I'd like to see any law firm pay its top Senior Partners only 7 times what it pays its cleaners, or a private hospital which paid its best surgeons 7 times what it paid its cashier at the pharmacy. I highly-suspect you're gonna see a massive brain-drain. Actions have consequences in an economy, certain professions earn a lot because the labour they provide to the market is in high demand, and there are comparatively fewer persons able to supply that niche labour. Cut their wages and there will be a brain-drain as people in these professions who were offering their labour at a high price leave into other industries and professions.

As if a law firm has its own cleaners rather than outsourced it to a cleaning company

See, this is what will happen. All low earners in a company will be split off into their own company, outsourced to another company, or become freelancers, etc.

Which will open up a can of worms as to whether contractors and freelancers will count towards the proposed policy, god this brings back bad memories of law school and vicarious liability and all the legal tests for 'employee vs. contractor' and all that nonsense.

[Asherahan]

I would say 10x the minimum wage be fair.

[Kowani]

Ben and Jerrys set maximum executive compensation at 7 times that which the basic line worker would earn,'

It worked well for them, ans should for any corporation

Meanwhile, Telecom’s last CEO was earning some of the highest pay of his contemporaries, yet Telecom was doing absolutely horrible.

Perhaps the system requires a bit of fixing.

[Valrifell]

Setting it at a fixed income feels too rigid, I prefer the abolishment of the capitalist system.

Barring that, setting it at a multiple of the lowest paid worker would do.

[Zex]

What's your opinion of a "maximum wage" (or salary)?.

So their are some objective truths, when people are paid more they get off benefits. It is not my responsibility to pay the employees of a company, so make them pay.

That being said, if you don't end immigration instantly then you can kiss this dream goodbye.

[The Blaatschapen]

What's your opinion of a "maximum wage" (or salary)?.

So their are some objective truths, when people are paid more they get off benefits. It is not my responsibility to pay the employees of a company, so make them pay.

That being said, if you don't end immigration instantly then you can kiss this dream goodbye.

What?

Can you rephrase your whole post?

[Purgatio]

What's your opinion of a "maximum wage" (or salary)?.

So their are some objective truths, when people are paid more they get off benefits. It is not my responsibility to pay the employees of a company, so make them pay.

That being said, if you don't end immigration instantly then you can kiss this dream goodbye.

This thread is about a maximum wage, not a minimum wage

[Zex]

So their are some objective truths, when people are paid more they get off benefits. It is not my responsibility to pay the employees of a company, so make them pay.

That being said, if you don't end immigration instantly then you can kiss this dream goodbye.

This thread is about a maximum wage, not a minimum wage

I'm aware of that, I just don't think the OP (or anyone) can achieve such a level of social engineering.

[Purgatio]

This thread is about a maximum wage, not a minimum wage

I'm aware of that, I just don't think the OP (or anyone) can achieve such a level of social engineering.

What does a maximum wage have to do with people getting off benefits? I'm confused

[The Blaatschapen]

I'm aware of that, I just don't think the OP (or anyone) can achieve such a level of social engineering.

What does a maximum wage have to do with people getting off benefits? I'm confused

It confused me too. And the immigration talk was also non sequitur.

[Swindenland]

Alternatively you could institute a maximum wage ratio, a few years ago that was the debate in Switzerland where the social democrats proposed a 1:12 wage ratio. The initiative was rejected, but raised an interesting idea.

I would far more prefer a wage ratio, because that way CEOs are encouraged to lift the wages of their lowest-earning employees to earn more money themselves. But I'm quite neutral on the issue.

1:12

I, however, oppose a maximum wage, because it limits freedom and would have severe economic effects.

[Imperializt Russia]

It’d be better to limit the amount people in a company can earn in comparison to the lowest paid worker. So if you make it that no one can earn 20x the lowest paid worker, any CEO who wants a massive salary would have to increase the pay of their workers.

And obviously it’d have to include bonuses, portfolio pay, ect. And harsh penalties for evasion.

Ba-ding.

As a general concept, no 'defence' is really necessary. "Obscene" levels of pay aren't called that for fun.

[Zex]

What does a maximum wage have to do with people getting off benefits? I'm confused

It confused me too. And the immigration talk was also non sequitur.

it's quite simple actually, I don't believe maximum wage will work so I advocated for the current status-quo (minimum wage). Since I'm defending a different point, I have decided to proactively counter its biggest criticism (too large of a labor pool). Halting immigration would significantly shrink the pop. growth rate and hence change the labor market for job seekers.

[Mardla]

Setting it at a fixed income feels too rigid, I prefer the abolishment of the capitalist system.

Barring that, setting it at a multiple of the lowest paid worker would do.

I prefer abolition of capitalism too, although I do not want socialism.

[Imperializt Russia]

Setting it at a fixed income feels too rigid, I prefer the abolishment of the capitalist system.

Barring that, setting it at a multiple of the lowest paid worker would do.

I prefer abolition of capitalism too, although I do not want socialism.

The two are mostly inseparable. Socialism is the diametric opposite of capitalism. There are different kinds of socialism, and a number of kinds that distinctly aren't socialism, but without reforming or re-creating capitalist institutions of some form, the abolition of capitalism leads to some form of socialism, or some perversion of capitalism.