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Why wouldn't they comp this guy more? He clearly has a penchant for pulling money out of a hat. On the flip side, why wouldn't he just volunteer, given his sta

Why wouldn't they comp this guy more? He clearly has a penchant for pulling money out of a hat. On the flip side, why wouldn't he just volunteer, given his stated true intentions?

austhrow743 6y ago
It doesn't sound like he has much room to pull money out of a hat in the position. The moves he can make are pretty limited.
charia 6y ago
For the same reason why people are against high level government officials anywhere getting pay raises. The public perceives it as a waste of money and believe that public servants should be solely motivated by the work and not the money. People forget that paying people who have significantly disproportionate power well makes them less likely to be tempted by outside influences. The second is because that looks very weird and improper. It's a government job and the person who works gets compensated. Not taking a salary would make his tenure and situation even more abnormal. It also sets a bad precedent for potential future holders of the job. The better option would be to accept the salary and donate it alongside the fortune he has vowed to give away.
- eru 6y ago
  > For the same reason why people are against high level government officials anywhere getting pay raises. The public perceives it as a waste of money and believe that public servants should be solely motivated by the work and not the money. People forget that paying people who have significantly disproportionate power well makes them less likely to be tempted by outside influences. Interestingly, that's part of the reasoning why Singapore pays ministers millions per year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_Singapore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_Singapore
- jmnicolas 6y ago
  > People forget that paying people who have significantly disproportionate power well makes them less likely to be tempted by outside influences. 630k ought to be enough for anybody.
- laurent92 6y ago
  > The better option would be to accept the salary and donate it alongside the fortune he has vowed to give away. And this exactly what Trump did, for example. He considered he was rich enough, so every trimester he donates his salary to a different ministry, once it was the General Surgeon, another time it was the DHS, or the Department of Agriculture. The list is here: https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/12/13/president-trump-salary-donation/ https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/12/13/president-trump-salar...
  - croon 6y ago
    Well, it is exactly what he has claimed to do, but given his history with truth, it's highly unlikely.
    - laurent92 6y ago
      Source? You can accuse him of whatever else you want, but here, it’s hundreds of thousands of dollars of payments that have happened in reality and can be cross-checked by journalists. You are literally claiming a past event doesn’t exist « given his history with the truth ». A man can do the best action possible and still be told it didn’t matter.
      - zimpenfish 6y ago
        > can be cross-checked by journalists. "To be clear, this list documents announcements — not receipts — of Trump’s donations." "We contacted the Department of Treasury to find out if documentation for any such deposits is publicly available and have yet to hear back."
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
smabie 6y ago
Even if you don't need the money, from personal experience, volunteering is a bad road to go down. For better or worse, money is equivalent to respect, and without an income, you garner no respect. What astonishes me is that anyone would want run this fund for a long period of time who isn't already very wealthy. When your boss of a two pizza team is earning more than the head of a 1tn fund, you know things are fucked up. Compensation should be in the tens of millions, at the very least. Unless of course some egalitarian image is more important than the money that the entire country depends on.
- codebolt 6y ago
  I'm a Norwegian and I suspect they don't want to put the compensation higher because of public perception within Norway. If someone was pulling 10 mln USD from the public purse I can guarantee the left leaning press would have something to say about it. I think it's fair anyway. This guy is already loaded, he doesn't need the extra millions. The prestige and power that comes with the position should be motivation enough.
- JanSt 6y ago
  When your boss of a two pizza team is paid more than $600k they are probably overpaid? He seems very capable and is ready to work for that (still good) money. Do you think paying someone tens of millions would improve results for the fund? Why should it?
  - Akababa 6y ago
    It's about supply and demand. If he really is the best person for the job, then there's nothing to be gained from paying him a higher fixed salary. But if there's someone else who's even marginally better that you can get for $10M, it's probably easily worth it - for the size of the fund, one person's pay is a negligible amount.
    - JanSt 6y ago
      That's pure theory. How do you know who is marginally better?
eru 6y ago
Your second question answers your first. And a reasonable answer to your second question is: it's not that much money in the grand scheme of things, and there's a certain value in doing things exactly by the book and with no ad hoc special handling. If the guy really wants to work for free, he can just donate his salary back to the government or some charity. Eg in the US you can use https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/public/gifts-to-government.html https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/public/gifts-to-government.h... In Germany https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staatsverschuldung_Deutschlands#Sonderkonto_zur_Tilgung https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staatsverschuldung_Deutschland... tells you how to contribute. I imagine Norway has a similar mechanism, but I don't speak enough Norwegian to figure that out quickly.
matsemann 6y ago
> why wouldn't he just volunteer Maybe not as applicable in this case as it's a position where one expects someone to be used to handle lots of money. But expecting someone to do government leading work for peanuts can have the unintended side effect of only having upper class pursue it. Like unpaid internships where only the already well-off can afford to do it.

Why wouldn't they comp this guy more? He clearly has a penchant for pulling money out of a hat. On the flip side, why wouldn't he just volunteer, given his stated true intentions?

austhrow743 6y ago

It doesn't sound like he has much room to pull money out of a hat in the position. The moves he can make are pretty limited.

charia 6y ago

For the same reason why people are against high level government officials anywhere getting pay raises. The public perceives it as a waste of money and believe that public servants should be solely motivated by the work and not the money. People forget that paying people who have significantly disproportionate power well makes them less likely to be tempted by outside influences. The second is because that looks very weird and improper. It's a government job and the person who works gets compensated. Not taking a salary would make his tenure and situation even more abnormal. It also sets a bad precedent for potential future holders of the job. The better option would be to accept the salary and donate it alongside the fortune he has vowed to give away.

eru 6y ago
> For the same reason why people are against high level government officials anywhere getting pay raises. The public perceives it as a waste of money and believe that public servants should be solely motivated by the work and not the money. People forget that paying people who have significantly disproportionate power well makes them less likely to be tempted by outside influences. Interestingly, that's part of the reasoning why Singapore pays ministers millions per year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_Singapore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_Singapore
jmnicolas 6y ago
> People forget that paying people who have significantly disproportionate power well makes them less likely to be tempted by outside influences. 630k ought to be enough for anybody.
laurent92 6y ago
> The better option would be to accept the salary and donate it alongside the fortune he has vowed to give away. And this exactly what Trump did, for example. He considered he was rich enough, so every trimester he donates his salary to a different ministry, once it was the General Surgeon, another time it was the DHS, or the Department of Agriculture. The list is here: https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/12/13/president-trump-salary-donation/ https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/12/13/president-trump-salar...
- croon 6y ago
  Well, it is exactly what he has claimed to do, but given his history with truth, it's highly unlikely.
  - laurent92 6y ago
    Source? You can accuse him of whatever else you want, but here, it’s hundreds of thousands of dollars of payments that have happened in reality and can be cross-checked by journalists. You are literally claiming a past event doesn’t exist « given his history with the truth ». A man can do the best action possible and still be told it didn’t matter.
    - zimpenfish 6y ago
      > can be cross-checked by journalists. "To be clear, this list documents announcements — not receipts — of Trump’s donations." "We contacted the Department of Treasury to find out if documentation for any such deposits is publicly available and have yet to hear back."
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]

smabie 6y ago

Even if you don't need the money, from personal experience, volunteering is a bad road to go down. For better or worse, money is equivalent to respect, and without an income, you garner no respect. What astonishes me is that anyone would want run this fund for a long period of time who isn't already very wealthy. When your boss of a two pizza team is earning more than the head of a 1tn fund, you know things are fucked up. Compensation should be in the tens of millions, at the very least. Unless of course some egalitarian image is more important than the money that the entire country depends on.

codebolt 6y ago
I'm a Norwegian and I suspect they don't want to put the compensation higher because of public perception within Norway. If someone was pulling 10 mln USD from the public purse I can guarantee the left leaning press would have something to say about it. I think it's fair anyway. This guy is already loaded, he doesn't need the extra millions. The prestige and power that comes with the position should be motivation enough.
JanSt 6y ago
When your boss of a two pizza team is paid more than $600k they are probably overpaid? He seems very capable and is ready to work for that (still good) money. Do you think paying someone tens of millions would improve results for the fund? Why should it?
- Akababa 6y ago
  It's about supply and demand. If he really is the best person for the job, then there's nothing to be gained from paying him a higher fixed salary. But if there's someone else who's even marginally better that you can get for $10M, it's probably easily worth it - for the size of the fund, one person's pay is a negligible amount.
  - JanSt 6y ago
    That's pure theory. How do you know who is marginally better?

eru 6y ago

Your second question answers your first. And a reasonable answer to your second question is: it's not that much money in the grand scheme of things, and there's a certain value in doing things exactly by the book and with no ad hoc special handling. If the guy really wants to work for free, he can just donate his salary back to the government or some charity. Eg in the US you can use https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/public/gifts-to-government.html https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/public/gifts-to-government.h... In Germany https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staatsverschuldung_Deutschlands#Sonderkonto_zur_Tilgung https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staatsverschuldung_Deutschland... tells you how to contribute. I imagine Norway has a similar mechanism, but I don't speak enough Norwegian to figure that out quickly.

matsemann 6y ago

> why wouldn't he just volunteer Maybe not as applicable in this case as it's a position where one expects someone to be used to handle lots of money. But expecting someone to do government leading work for peanuts can have the unintended side effect of only having upper class pursue it. Like unpaid internships where only the already well-off can afford to do it.