Obscene pay

There's a lot in the press about the huge amounts bankers, politicians and some local government managers get paid.  the amounts talked about defy any normal concept of 'earnings'.  How can any one person be that much better than others that the value they add by doing their job can justify so many times the average workers wage.

But hang on a minute.  Look at some of the crazy things going on elsewhere in our society.
Footballers and entertainers receiving vast amounts without producing anything tangible for the community.
The justice system awarding huge amounts of damages to victims of negligence - the concept of a genuine accident without blame seems to have disappeared.  Just being famous from being to the telly seems enough for individuals to demand money for their presence.  As for the after dinner speaking racket with the likes of Tony Blair...

It's hardly surprising that bankers and CEOs of major companies look at the sums being handed out for kicking a ball about and demand similar amounts.  these people are after all running businesses which produce the wealth our societies and nations depend on.  Politicians and local government officials have a high opinion of themselves so aren't going to be left out.

Remember, at the end of the day there is a finite amount of wealth to be distributed.  The wealth is produced by production activities - mining, agriculture, manufacturing and the like, which are in turn enabled by the service industries - the banks, government, distribution, retail and so on.

It seems to me the reward to the productive and service areas should be higher than non productive areas.  Entertainment, the arts, sports are all very nice to have, but cannot demand a disproportionate reward.  Within the productive areas, no individual is indispensable - the guy on the production line is just as essential as the top managers.  Pay needs to relate to the availability of suitable personell -  more people are capable of doing the production line jobs so get paid less, but the top people aren't as unique as they currently seem to think they are.  Same applies to the top entertainers - they're really not that much better than their peers.  The very top jobs should also carry risk - if the management causes the company to fail, then any rewards (pensions, bonuses etc) the management have accrued should fail with the company.  How many managers seem able to ruin one company, then almost immediately get a top paid job in another company - isn't failure recognised at this level? 

Lets get back to sportsmen being (semi) amateur, entertainers doing the job because they love the applause, and managers acting professionally and being respected for it.