1386: Thomas Sowell – Pay is Not a Reward for Merit

W1386: Thomas Sowell – Pay is Not a Reward for Merit
People born into families with every advantage of wealth, education, and social position may be able to achieve a high level of productivity without any great struggle that would indicate individual merit. Conversely, people who have had to struggle to overcome many disadvantages, in order to achieve even a modest level of productivity, may show great individual merit. But an economy is not a moral seminar authorized to hand out badges of merit to deserving people. An economy is a mechanism for generating the material wealth on which the standard of living of millions of people depend. Pay is not a retrospective reward for merit but an incentive for contributing to production. —Thomas Sowell
People born into families with every advantage of wealth, education, and social position may be able to achieve a high level of productivity without any great struggle that would indicate individual merit. Conversely, people who have had to struggle to overcome many disadvantages, in order to achieve even a modest level of productivity, may show great individual merit. But an economy is not a moral seminar authorized to hand out badges of merit to deserving people. An economy is a mechanism for generating the material wealth on which the standard of living of millions of people depend. Pay is not a retrospective reward for merit but an incentive for contributing to production. —Thomas SowellDownload Print Quality (7680×4020) 250KB  |  Normal Quality (3840×2010) 142KB
People born into families with every advantage of wealth, education, and social position may be able to achieve a high level of productivity without any great struggle that would indicate individual merit. Conversely, people who have had to struggle to overcome many disadvantages, in order to achieve even a modest level of productivity, may show great individual merit. But an economy is not a moral seminar authorized to hand out badges of merit to deserving people. An economy is a mechanism for generating the material wealth on which the standard of living of millions of people depend. Pay is not a retrospective reward for merit but an incentive for contributing to production. —Thomas SowellDownload Print Quality (6146×7680) 317KB  |  Normal Quality (3073×3840) 175KB

People born into families with every advantage of wealth, education, and social position may be able to achieve a high level of productivity without any great struggle that would indicate individual merit. Conversely, people who have had to struggle to overcome many disadvantages, in order to achieve even a modest level of productivity, may show great individual merit. But an economy is not a moral seminar authorized to hand out badges of merit to deserving people. An economy is a mechanism for generating the material wealth on which the standard of living of millions of people depend. Pay is not a retrospective reward for merit but an incentive for contributing to production. —Thomas Sowell

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