Re: Pardon my enthusiasm

[Kestas <Kestutis.Kveraga@dartmouth.edu>]

At 00:04 1/7/2002 -0800, you wrote:
>more of NBA players than you would the average person.  Sure, they get 
>paid a lot of money, but if society paid people what they deserve garbage 
>collectors (and other less-than-desirable but very necessary jobs), 
>educators, and the like would make far, far more than CEO's, professional 
>athletes, and stock traders.

Garbage collectors and educators get paid  what they deserve (=what their
work is worth), as do CEOs and NBA players - by definition. Their decision
to continue employment in that particular job is itself an implicit
acknowledgement that their perceived self-worth is at least what they're
being paid. Otherwise, they would undoubtedly seek greener pastures
elsewhere. 

It doesn't matter how "deserving" or "underpaid" a certain profession seems
to us. It  doesn't matter if a dumb, barely literate jock gets paid 100
times what a brilliant scientist does. If there's a market for his services
that will sustain that kind of remuneration, then that's his value. There
are far more people who can be garbage collectors or teachers than those
who can play in the NBA. Antoine Walker makes $11M/yr. because there is
enough interest in his services to pay him that kind of money. Our
involvement in this list should alert you to that.
.     
 You may say, but what about those who are grossly overpaid, as we perceive
it? Look at Walter McCarty, for example - is he worth 3 mil/yr.? Was Pitino
worth 50 mil, or some CEO who drove a corporation into the ground, worth
$300 large? No, but the market, through the agency of Pitino, Gaston, or
some board of directors, respectively, at one point perceived their value
to be such. The market erred, and because of long-term contracts in pro
sports, such mistakes can remain with you for many years. But it's
ultimately self-correcting. You can bet Waltah won't be signed to a similar
contract again (if he's lucky enough to remain in the NBA), Pitino won't
get a $50 mil offer again, and that CEO will be out of a job. 

Kestas

PS btw, I didn't mean to imply that Antoine is a dumb jock, although it may
seem that way.