I am following up on Erik's blog of yesterday which brought into question the amount paid to Judge Judy -- the highest paid TV personality -- and Vik's comment that it was “Free market”. (OK, Vik said “Free market, baby!”).
Leaving TV personalities aside, in the world where I spend a great deal of my time -- the highly-regulated world of healthcare -- there are relatively new regulations which seek to impose limits on compensation paid to certain executives. Whether these regulations will withstand legal challenge remains unclear. In any event, as Vik might say, “It ain't a free market, baby!”
This brings into focus the broader question of what people are paid for what they do. Many, many factors come into play and the questions persist. Our society seems to make some interesting choices about the “value” of what people do. But “value” is a very subjective term, or, maybe, “value” has nothing to do with it.