The new popular cause on the left is ‘income inequality.’ Basically that means that if you are the head of a corporation, you shouldn’t make significantly more than the low-wage earners in that corporation. Never mind the extra education you got to qualify for the job or the extra hours you worked there, you can’t have what you earned–it’s just not fair. Actually, in a publicly held corporation, the Board of Directors makes those decisions, and the Board is accountable to the stockholders. There is no reason for the government (on any level) to be involved. However, a popular cause is a popular cause and has to be reckoned with.
Hot Air posted an article today about a new law passed in Portland, Oregon.
The article states:
The city of Portland, Oregon, is imposing a surtax on companies whose CEOs earn more than 100 times the median pay of their lower-wage workers.
Companies will see a 10 percent increase on their tax rate if the CEO makes 100 times the average employee and a 25 percent increase if they make 250 times the average salary, The New York Times reported.
The new law, which passed 3-1 in the city council, is estimated to generate about $2.5 to $3.5 million per year, which will be used to address income inequality on a local level.
On “Your World” today, Portland City Commissioner Steve Novick said that aside from climate change, extreme economic inequality is the greatest problem of our time.
Note to Commissioner Novick–extreme economic inequality is not the responsibility of the City Council.
The article concludes:
Just over the border from Oregon you can find a lot of offices for Boeing. Their CEO, James McNerney, had a compensation package last year of nearly $20M, and that’s not even close to being one of the biggest paydays for CEOs out there. If you suddenly whacked Boeing with a 25% surtax they would shut down their offices and move to South Carolina so fast that you’d hear a booming sound from the air rushing in to fill the vacuum where their office buildings used to be. And all of their workers would either flee the area with them or be on the unemployment line. Unemployed people can’t afford a lot of artisanal cheese every week, so the effect on the ground spreads outward.
This isn’t how you build an economy, guys. It’s how you crater one. No wonder you’re so proud of the phrase, Keep Portland Weird. Put down the bong, folks. You’re supposed to be creating jobs and wealth.
The free market creates wealth–government control does not.
