Comments on: The Metrics of Protest: Black Friday and Low-Wage America http://www.deliberatelyconsidered.com/2011/11/the-metrics-of-protest-black-friday-and-low-wage-america/ Informed reflection on the events of the day Wed, 15 Jul 2015 17:00:00 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.23 By: Michael Corey http://www.deliberatelyconsidered.com/2011/11/the-metrics-of-protest-black-friday-and-low-wage-america/comment-page-1/#comment-20873 Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:50:00 +0000 http://www.deliberatelyconsidered.com/?p=9941#comment-20873 This is a very interesting presentation of statistics, and you raise a number of very important issues. The question remains, how do we deal with them? My guess is that trying to manage compensation systems through governmental regulations will not solve the fundamental problems. More value needs to be created in the U. S. economy, and a way needs to be found to solve chronic inner city and rural problems that have been largely ignored. The shift from a production economy to a consumption and service driven economy has been disastrous in my view. If we identify the origin of the problems, then I suspect we could be a better job of addressing the problems.

In addition to the list of occupations that you present (CEOs and finance, medical and legal professionals) others that have been identified as top earners. They include super stars in entertainment, sports and media as well as entrepreneurship. Within the group that you present, I think that another cut is necessary. There are many people who are CEOs, financial executives, legal professionals and medical professionals who do not have exceptional large incomes. Of the ones associated with business and banking, these are frequently associated with extremely large organizations which have resulted from major changes in the world economy, or were part of very successful startups. The medical professionals, I suspect are the ones who have a valued specialization.

I suspect that the categories of less than high school, high school, some college and college or more does not tell the story as it relates to education. Less than high school tends to be associated with a chronic underclass. Here numerous factors must be addressed to solve this problem. Within the other groups, the people that have training and education in skill sets that are most valued in the economy have the best chance of doing better. They also need the soft personal and interpersonal skills to actualize them. I’ve seen hourly workers in manufacturing earn more than college graduates working in some accounting jobs. Plumbers sometimes earn more than some with college degrees. Those in computer sciences tend to do better than those in the humanities. Being in the right place at the right time also helps.

If we focus on ways to benefit from value creation, I suspect that we can begin to improve the prospects for most people. This will not be easy because many skill sets have become devalued in the United States as the world economy has become more integrated. There are excesses that need to be addressed at the very top, but I think that dealing with them requires a number of very different approaches. Many of the mechanisms may already be in place.

The practical problems are easy to identify: who is going to identify how people are going to be compensated? How much should the following be paid: a baseball player; an actress; a rock star; a prime time TV news anchor; a heart surgeon; someone who leads a large business; people who manage money for themselves and others; a professor; a policeman; a high school teacher; building custodians; sanitary workers; short order cooks; migrant farm workers, etc.? How much should entrepreneurs earn, such as the founders of: Mrs. Fields Cookies, Wendy’s; Famous Amos; Bear Naked Granola; Facebook; Microsoft; Apple; Home Depot; Wal-Mart, etc?

]]>