| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Bashing the bankers? | |
| Posted by: | Richard Carter | |
| Date/Time: | 14/12/09 09:56:00 |
| There's a very interesting report by the New Economics Foundation that looks into the question of pay and people's contribution to society. Perhaps not surprisingly (to me anyway), of the six professions examined in depth, bankers, tax accountants and advertising executives come out worse whilst hospital cleaners, child care workers and waste recycling workers contribute best value. The figures for their contribution to society are: Foe every pound they are paid: Hospital cleaners generate £10 in social value Child care workers generate between £7 and £9.50 Waste recycling workers generate £12 City bankers destroy £7 of social value Tax accountants destroy £11 Advertising executives destroy £47 You can argue about the methodology (if you want to know more, the full report can be downloaded free here: http://www.neweconomics.org/sites/neweconomics.org/files/A_Bit_Rich.pdf) but the ranges of their findings are such that the resulting conclusions are very robust, and don't say much for our economic system, and if I were an edvertising executive, a tax accountant or a banker I'd find this pretty uncomfortable reading. But then again, if I'd seen fit to be in one of these rackets in the first place I probably wouldn't be worrying too much. |