Tag: Inequality

1386: 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 Sowell

1383: Thomas Sowell – Why Women Earn Less

As far back as 1969, academic women who never married earned more than academic men who never married. A study from 2005 showed that among college-educated, never-married individuals with no children who worked full-time and were from 40 to 64 years old—that is, beyond the child-bearing years—men averaged $40,000 a year in income, while women averaged $47,000. The most important reason why women earn less than men is not that they are paid less for doing the very same work but that they are distributed differently among jobs and have fewer hours and less continuity in the labor force. —Thomas Sowell

As far back as 1969, academic women who never married earned more than academic men who never married. A study from 2005 showed that among college-educated, never-married individuals with no children who worked full-time and were from 40 to 64 years old—that is, beyond the child-bearing years—men averaged $40,000 a year in income, while women averaged $47,000. The most important reason why women earn less than men is not that they are paid less for doing the very same work but that they are distributed differently among jobs and have fewer hours and less continuity in the labor force. —Thomas Sowell

1381: Thomas Sowell – Income Differences Between the Sexes

Although physical strength is no longer as major a factor as it once was, there are still particular industries today where considerable physical strength remains a requirement. While women have been 74% that are classified as “clerical and kindred workers,” they have been:

Less than 5% of transport equipment operatives.

Less than 4% of extraction and maintenance workers.

Less than 3% of construction workers or loggers.

Less than 2% of roofers or masons.

Less than 1% of mechanics and technicians who service heavy vehicles and mobile equipment.

Such occupational distributions have obvious economic implications, since miners earn nearly double the income of office clerks. There is a premium paid for workers doing hazardous work, which often overlaps work requiring physical strength. While men are 54% of the labor force, they are 92% of the job-related deaths.

—Thomas Sowell

1380: Thomas Sowell – Women & Higher Education

Women in most countries are going on to higher education in numbers comparable to men—and, in some countries, more often than men. In Japan there are 90 women enrolled in higher education for every 100 men, in the United States 140 women for every 100 men and, in Sweden, 150 women for every 100 men. There is no question that the sexes have often been treated differently [with regards to education]. But few societies today have such severe restrictions on the education of girls, at least not in the Western world. —Thomas Sowell

Women in most countries are going on to higher education in numbers comparable to men—and, in some countries, more often than men. In Japan there are 90 women enrolled in higher education for every 100 men, in the United States 140 women for every 100 men and, in Sweden, 150 women for every 100 men. There is no question that the sexes have often been treated differently [with regards to education]. But few societies today have such severe restrictions on the education of girls, at least not in the Western world. —Thomas Sowell

Tags Coercion, Compassion, Ethics, Government, Greed, Harry Browne, Inequality, Mentality, Money, Morality, Socialism, Taxes
No Comments on 1096: Harry Browne – Don’t Call Theft Compassion