> [snip]
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> > It's a simple matter of supply and demand. While you're right, physical labor is hard, it's something that doesn't tend to require anything other than a willingness to work. As such, there are quite a few people willing to do it. A highly specialized job that requires training and experience is going to pay more simply because there are less people around to do it.
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[scenario snipped]

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> Now, I realize that there are a lot of problems with this scenario... like who's the CEO who's willing to give up nearly $10 million a year? What is Mr. Worker going to think when the CEO starts putting more effort into his job, resulting in less trickle-down money for Mr. Worker? (Personally, I still think this situation is better than what commonly happens today, where a CEO lays off 1,000 people and gets a $10 million raise). Judging effort is much easier to do the more physical the work is, where there are concrete, physical indications of what you've put into your work...but what about management? Somewhere, you'd end up putting a dollar figure on something insubstantial or esoteric, so you'd definitely have to have the help of some insurance company experienced in doing just that :-)

Okay, well, I agree that CEOs are overpaid. The divide between the rich and the poor in this country is growing and that is a negative thing. However, as I said before, there's a reason why management is worth more than most labor: it's harder to be a good manager. It seems easy just sitting at a desk, but you have to remember that most managers and white collar type people put in incredibly long hours these days. And again, while production in a factory may make the actual product, working on an assembly line is not a hard to learn skill. Anybody can do it, where as not everyone can manage. Since there are less managers available to pick from than unskilled labor, they're worth more. Like I said, it's economics at it's most basic.

>
> But if I were a CEO, I (hopefully) wouldn't think of the $10 million salary I was going to have to give up. I would (hopefully) realize that, if the responsibility for the company is all mine, then I am responsible for the poor conditions of the hard workers. I would realize that I'm paying Mr. VP $1,000,000 a year to kiss my.. er, well, I'd realize that he's not working $1,000,000 worth of work. Also, I'd realize that when it's time to make the cuts, the idea is to take off the fat and not the feet.

Agreed -- the idea that's come over the past 20 years that when it's time to cut the budget, cut workers is stupid. It's extraordinarily negative for the economy and for companies and at some point it will collapse. You can't expect fewer people to do the same amount of work indefinitely, and I see serious economic disaster if the trend continues.

Part of this is because we are in a rapidly changing world. The U.S. in particular is becoming a place where production of actual things is not as highly valued as information. When we can ship unskilled jobs out of the country, it's hard for companies (who are only looking at the bottom line) to not think twice about doing so. I believe that companies owe loyalty to their employees, and see this as a major problem.

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> A company whose payment was partly based on effort will fare a lot better than one whose CEO can't see past his next fat paycheck.

Again though, you seem to undervalue the importance of a good CEO. They may be overpaid, but you'll never convince me that unskilled labor is worth more than a good CEO.

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> Perhaps one way to realistically balance stuff out a bit more is to put a cap on what the raise % is from one level to the next. I think that's the way it is in Japan, it's like you can't earn more than 10% more than the people one level down. Here, you find jumps like 1000% at the top levels. That 10% could realistically account for the increase in responsibility that comes with the higher positions.

Certainly an interesting idea that I hadn't heard of previously. It sounds very rational though, and I'd like to see it implemented (or read about places where it has been already).

As a side note, have you ever seen/read anything by Michael Moore? If not, go out and rent "Roger and Me" or "The Big One", both of which are documentaries essentially about the crumbling state of today's labor force. Both are funny though, and also have something to say. He also has a show on Bravo called "The Naked Truth" which is a good watch. And check out some of his books (I read "Downsize This!" and loved it). A link to his site is below.

Stephen