Bill James: This Is Not Capitalism. It Is Organized Theft.

A call for balance in the corporate arena ...

I suppose it is quasi-socialist of me, but I do favor a "10 to 1" law stating that no company may pay any employee more than ten times as much as it pays any other employee, on a full-time basis. Enforceable by lawsuit: If your company pays anyone else ten times more than they pay you, you can bring suit against the company AND against the person who is excessively compensated.

http://deadspin.com/bill-james-calls-for-revolutionary-changes-to-the-ameri-1595361407

 

Unless I totally misremember most of James' work, I believe -- at least in the past before entering the employ of the Red Sox -- he has generally been an advocate of players being paid whatever the market will bear (i.e., no salary caps).

 

Does James still work for the Red Sox?

Why don't we start there.

The club house kids are going to be pumped to be making $2M a year.

 

Whenever I need political commentary, I look to baseball historians and stat heads.

 

Enjoy your 1 percent raise this year.

If that.

 

So, since nearly every company employs at least some minimum wage workers at about $8 an hour/$20,000 per year, no one in the country will be allowed to make more than $200,000?
Even if you pay them $30,000 a year on the low end, it's still an absurd concept.

 

Why would someone only earn a 1% raise?

 

Because you deserve low and stagnant wages if you think James' idea is idiotic.

 

Ten to one is nuts.

 

The idea is that the top guy would pay is workers more than minimum wage, so he or she would be able to make more themselves.

10X the amount is too low, but 100X seems a little more right. Pay a worker $30K, you get $3 million. Want more? Pay more.

 

This guy deserves more.

 

Happens quite frequently in the newspaper biz. At least before they started actually cutting the wages.