Post by rog on Feb 21, 2018 5:34:25 GMT -5
I just came across a headline that proclaimed that Tom Brady's wife, model Gisele, is worth $300 million -- in other words, likely a few times as much as her future Hall of Fame husband.
Made me wonder why we are so critical of the money athletes are paid. They have a very rare and very valuable talent, and the law of supply and demand works heavily in their favor.
A very logical question we have asked here is: Who is more important -- firemen, policemen and teachers, or ball players? Pretty hard to argue that the answer isn't firemen, policemen and teachers, particularly when emergencies strike.
But in such an analysis, two important issues aren't brought into play:
Does a fireman, policemen or teach bring more pleasure than a major league player and his teammates? More importantly from an economic standpoint -- and we might have noticed that sports are a business, one in which most owners multiply their million -- is that good major league players are slightly more rare than good firemen, policemen or teachers.
Far too often catchy phrases mask deeper issues that are ignored or misstated. An example is when some say that guns don't kill people, people kill people. In reality, bullets kill people, but that doesn't make for such a clever catch phrase. There are many, many other examples, but that is one that jumped to mind.
The question, who is more important -- firemen, policemen and teachers or ball players -- may have a fairly clear answer. But it may not be the question that applies, or at least not the most important question when it comes to their relative pay.
Another question that might be asked -- in addition to the two previously mentioned -- is, does a policeman, fireman or teacher touch more people, or does a ballplayer?
With regard to moral issues, life can be somewhat simple. With regard to the rest of the world, it rarely is. Simplistic catch phrases can sound good, but they rarely capture the full situation. Life just isn't that simple.
Heck, baseball isn't as simple as it used to be.
Made me wonder why we are so critical of the money athletes are paid. They have a very rare and very valuable talent, and the law of supply and demand works heavily in their favor.
A very logical question we have asked here is: Who is more important -- firemen, policemen and teachers, or ball players? Pretty hard to argue that the answer isn't firemen, policemen and teachers, particularly when emergencies strike.
But in such an analysis, two important issues aren't brought into play:
Does a fireman, policemen or teach bring more pleasure than a major league player and his teammates? More importantly from an economic standpoint -- and we might have noticed that sports are a business, one in which most owners multiply their million -- is that good major league players are slightly more rare than good firemen, policemen or teachers.
Far too often catchy phrases mask deeper issues that are ignored or misstated. An example is when some say that guns don't kill people, people kill people. In reality, bullets kill people, but that doesn't make for such a clever catch phrase. There are many, many other examples, but that is one that jumped to mind.
The question, who is more important -- firemen, policemen and teachers or ball players -- may have a fairly clear answer. But it may not be the question that applies, or at least not the most important question when it comes to their relative pay.
Another question that might be asked -- in addition to the two previously mentioned -- is, does a policeman, fireman or teacher touch more people, or does a ballplayer?
With regard to moral issues, life can be somewhat simple. With regard to the rest of the world, it rarely is. Simplistic catch phrases can sound good, but they rarely capture the full situation. Life just isn't that simple.
Heck, baseball isn't as simple as it used to be.