£97million Ferrari sold

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Steve Malkin

Veteran
Location
Cheshire
So where would your limit be set?

I think most people are comfortable with the idea that someone who is exceptionally gifted in some way might be worth an order of magnitude more than the average so lets say 10x

It's a pointless argument though because the super rich are the ones who dictate what they pay themselves, not us, and human nature being what it is their greed will win out over altruism every time.
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
Isn't there a recognised ratio between highest and lowest paid, either in a country or a company, in order to promote good feeling? I can't rememeber what it is, or what it's called.

Comparing levels of work is almost meaningless anyway. I work physically hard, in all weathers, collecting recycling, often dirty and a bit smelly. I probably get paid less than someone answering the phones in a call centre, or a sales person, who gets to sit indoors in a comfortable office. I might say (with obvious bias, of course) that I can do without call centres, but most of them wouldn't want to do without having their rubbish collected. They might differ. In any case, I know I'm far happier doing my job, than I would be answering phones and trying to make sales all day.

My boss used to do our job with us, plus the management of our part of the project. I didn't even fancy that extra bit of work, and now he does less of our job and project manages the whole charity. I definitely wouldn't want that job, for all the extra money he gets.

Yes, the managing director will always get more than the factory floor worker. But without the factory floor worker, there'd be nothing for the managing director to manage....
 

screenman

Legendary Member
Arch, I think that last bit works both ways, the main thing is you are happy with your position within the company.

Now another thought on this 10x ratio, does this only apply to this country or the rest of the world.
 

MacB

Lover of things that come in 3's
Arch, I think that last bit works both ways, the main thing is you are happy with your position within the company.

Now another thought on this 10x ratio, does this only apply to this country or the rest of the world.

Well France are bringing in a 20:1 ratio for all companies where the government has a significant stake. There is a further argument for this to be introduced in companies where their main source of business is government contracts. Now that angle plays fairly well across the board appealing to those that bemoan higher taxes etc. Yet privatise a national company and suddenly it's no-ones business.

On paper there should be no need for earnings caps as a truly free market will provide enough competition to create 'natural' limits.
 

MacB

Lover of things that come in 3's
Oh, and regarding ridiculously high incomes, do you imagine that they are created in a vacuum? The fact they exist means that other wages are suppressed and prices raised in order to fund them.
 

screenman

Legendary Member
Adrian I do quite well from my own hard work, my subcontractors also do well from my hard work, they are great workers but lack the self motivation to go out and get the work.

I am certainly not rich and envy many who have got a nice civil service pension to come.
 

marinyork

Resting in suspended Animation
Location
Logopolis
Adrian I do quite well from my own hard work, my subcontractors also do well from my hard work, they are great workers but lack the self motivation to go out and get the work.

I am certainly not rich and envy many who have got a nice civil service pension to come.

You seem a nice enough fellow if deliberately obtuse at times, but I don't see this 'not rich' routine that you've done several times now. You would simply be laughed out of the door where I work and in many other places of employment where people are on £5,000-£13,000 a year.

I suspect you know perfectly well that historically the ratio has at times been a lot more than 10x. You don't seem to understand order of magnitudes very well though, since the CEO of the company I work for has earned 1000x more than I do or more some years if you take everything into account. You could come out and say it, say you thought 50x was all right or 100x was all right, but not 500 or 1000 or a million times. Or maybe you do think that the latter figures are fine. I don't. This is the whole point as to why people measure inequality.
 

Nihal

Veteran
It was 6 individual sales over an eight week period. may not have been bought by the same person.
oops.Got it wrong.Sorry,i did'nt get my facts right before i posted and will be more careful next time.................
 

Nihal

Veteran
Err! who has only one bike? not many on here that is for sure. Also I have not read the write up but did one person buy all 6?

As for nutjob, that would be the person far more clever and richer than you, would it not.


Touched a nerve now,have I.Just did it to make light conversation but someone maybe took it a bit personally.And for the clever part,in my opinion,buying six cars does'nt make you clever,just makes you look rich(and a wee bit stupid for having six of the same cars).Me i'd rather buy a few new bikes,safer for the environment and also wee bit more fun than sitting inside a shiny,3-litre V12 engine loaded car doing whatsoever mph.(and yes,i like havin fun,be it falling,getting drenched in rain 'cause is a bit more fun,but still the same dangers).Oh and yes,i'm still 15 so i'm not worried about being rich right now you know:headshake: ..........................So we good now?:cheers: .

Me actually is a beet stupid yooooou know:rofl:
 

screenman

Legendary Member
Nihal, you have not so far I would imagine driven a V12 Ferrari, so my question would be how do you know what you prefer until you try the other options?
 

marinyork

Resting in suspended Animation
Location
Logopolis
marinyork, why do they earn so little?

That simply reflects the regions outside of the south east of London where a 'typical' wage or 'common' (not average wage) is not a million miles away from the top end of what I quoted. Various measures of average for the region by your or other people's measures isn't much above this figure either. It also reflects that a lot of new jobs created in today's world are part time. A lot of this was masked by our tax credits system. It also reflects the collapse of industry where unskilled decent jobs have been replaced with very insecure and very poorly paid jobs.

Generally speaking in bits of the private sector you don't have generously wide pay bands that creep up like in the public sector for workers at the bottom. You get pay points where most people get paid more or less the same amount forever and ever. The trend the last ten years has been for employers to pay under 21s the minimum wage for the respective age group and not the normal adult rate. The latter was more common in the past. Again another trend has been to pay line managers and supervisors a very similar rate to your worker. So you get normal worked on NMW or NMW + delta and line manager on NMW + 2 delta.

The reason why they aren't paid much is they have no power and the workforce is not unionised. Contrary to popular myth the workforce in the bottom decile is less unionised than in some of the higher ones.
 
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