I read an article in the Straits Times today (an extract from an upcoming book called The Price of Everything) on how talent in itself may not come to much, if you were born in the wrong era. Today’s era, with its array of mass communication technologies, allows sports stars and the like to have much greater reach, and therefore, earning potential.
Which is why Pele, perhaps the greatest footballer of all time, earned far less than Cristiano Ronaldo (even when Pele’s wages are adjusted to today’s rates) although he may be a better player.
This trend creates a greater income disparity, if you compare the top performers with those at the bottom end. It may not mean much to most people, but when looking at the vast bonuses paid out to Wall Street before the last crash, it explains why people at the top are even more incentivised to take foolish risks. The article calls for a review of such schemes to discourage careless behaviour. But I think this is unlikely to work…