Originally Posted by
henkybaby
LOM, the fact that you equate contribution to society to 'earning money' says it all, really. That is exactly my point. 90% of the money 'earned' in the financial sector is non-existent bogus money. That is why we keep having crashes and the tax payer has to cough up the dough for those bogus products. It is legalized fraud.
Besides, I meant real contributions, not financial ones.
That is a moral and subjective view not an economic view. I do not equate contribution to society with amount generated at all, I like pretty much any company evaluate pay in terms of the contribution to the business bottom line. If I am working for a bank or a retailer my measure of performance is income generated for the company. If I am working for a Theatre or a restaurant it may be critical acclaim, but surely the end product of any business is to make a profit? If you don't seek to make a profit then you are not a business are you?
Lot's of people make a contribution to society but in a market economy there is no way to objectively say a Nurse is worth 2 bankers, that is a personal subjective decision based upon say upbringing, environment, religious affiliation, cultural norms etc. etc. I don't want to live in a society where Henky, or even LoM decides who should get what.
If I earn £1M (and if only I did) and end up paying £400k in tax then I can directly fund up to 10 nurses from the revenue I provide to the Government. Is that not "socially useful"?