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By market forces I mean supply and demand. And you have correctly noted that these have a secondary role in CEO pay negotiations. Instead, it's a question of po

by skurry 15y ago

By market forces I mean supply and demand. And you have correctly noted that these have a secondary role in CEO pay negotiations. Instead, it's a question of power and indifference. Where does this power come from? It stems from the fact that the board with which the future CEO is negotiating consists of inside and outside officers. This means that he is negotiating with future subordinates (inside officers) and executives who might want to become the CEO of a company where this future CEO has a seat on the board. Who would openly try to lower the salary of their future boss, the same person they will have to talk to about their own pay raises? So, the board does not really have an incentive to push for the true market rate of the CEO, unless they are major shareholders, but usually lots of incentives not to do so. > We'd have no need of minimum wage laws because anyone anywhere could turn down a job offer. And right now janitors can't turn down job offers? I don't understand. How does a self-employed janitor have more power? I think you greatly overestimate the advantages of being self-employed, and underestimate the downsides.

einhverfr 15y ago
Right now, only 20% of the US workforce are self-employed, and a quarter of them are professionals (lawyers and doctors mostly). That means 16% of the population are running a business which is not expected to be a medical or legal business. Most people esp. in the current economy, are not in a position to turn down a job offer. This means they want work more than the company wants to hire them. This is a major source of a power differential. If, on the other hand, the boundary between employment and self-employment is porous, this means that companies not only have to compete with eachother to hire said janitor, but they also have to compete with the fact that they could hire said janitor's ability to be self-employed. The point is it is a clear shift. Right now minimum wage laws are too low. We should at least set them high enough that people have no need of welfare when having a minimum wage job. As it is they are a nice way to tell us we are protecting the worker when in fact we are doing no such thing. When you combine it with welfare, you have solid incentives for low-paid workers not to become self-employed and thus the welfare and minimum wage scheme we have right now are actual tools in the class war by the wealthy against everyone else.
- deleted 15y ago
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by skurry 15y ago

einhverfr 15y ago

Right now, only 20% of the US workforce are self-employed, and a quarter of them are professionals (lawyers and doctors mostly). That means 16% of the population are running a business which is not expected to be a medical or legal business. Most people esp. in the current economy, are not in a position to turn down a job offer. This means they want work more than the company wants to hire them. This is a major source of a power differential. If, on the other hand, the boundary between employment and self-employment is porous, this means that companies not only have to compete with eachother to hire said janitor, but they also have to compete with the fact that they could hire said janitor's ability to be self-employed. The point is it is a clear shift. Right now minimum wage laws are too low. We should at least set them high enough that people have no need of welfare when having a minimum wage job. As it is they are a nice way to tell us we are protecting the worker when in fact we are doing no such thing. When you combine it with welfare, you have solid incentives for low-paid workers not to become self-employed and thus the welfare and minimum wage scheme we have right now are actual tools in the class war by the wealthy against everyone else.

deleted 15y ago
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