Michael Lissack would be to write a platform and to endorse (not nominate) a national ticket. The endorsed presidential and vice-presidential candidates would get the publicity attendant upon a national convention and would have the party’s backing in a national primary.
Wages
The traditional thought is that Americans don’t mind huge incomes; they hope to have one themselves some day. This argument is used to justify limitless incomes, huge disparities in earnings and wealth, and low taxes. It assumes that the incentive created by large incomes is a driving force in the economy. I would contend that the degradation of our moral fiber from high incomes is even worse. It is far from clear that larger prizes have a positive effect on the performance of ambitious young executives. Working for organizations is not like playing golf. In contrast to competitors on the PGA tour, corporations are enterprises in which teamwork is important to success. Such cooperation is especially likely to suffer if colleagues are com- peting fiercely with one another. Vice presidents mesmerized by the hope of vast rewards may not only refrain from helping competitors but may even resort to petty stratagems to sabotage their leading rivals. Such concerns help to explain the reluctance of Japanese corporations to pay their chief executives anything like the amounts common in America. The Japanese seem convinced that huge paychecks will not motivate subordinates but only undermine teamwork and destroy morale. That is why the gap between what their executives earn and the pay of other employees has been gradually narrowing over many years. In the range of incomes between the poorest 1 percent and the 85 th percentile, there are no big gaps. Up to the 85 th percentile, any differences in income between one person and another person present themselves as a steady and gentle gradation. Each person within this range rubs elbows with others who are a little better or worse off than he or she is. Above the 85 th percentile, everything changes. The gentle slope starts a precipitous
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