It's difficult to know when to write anything about the current financial state of the country as it changes day by day. But today we have the news that the tax payer will bail out banks to the tune of £37 billion. Also announced is that chief executives and chairmen of both RBS and HBOS are to resign. But don't shed too great a tear for them. According to an article I read recently, the CE of HBOS was due to be paid £2.337 million this year and the CE of RBS a whopping £5.375 million!
Some are saying the current situation is the death knell of the "Thatcher era". Do you remember her "trickle down" theory, which said when the rich get richer, the wealth "trickles down" to the poor? Well, the minimum wage stands at £5.73 an hour. For someone working a 40 hour week and being paid for 52 weeks a year, they receive just under £12,000. Contrast that with the above figure of £5,375,000. "Trickle down"? I don't think so. From my observation, when the rich get richer, the rich get richer - full stop.
But, hey! If the person on the minimum wage works for about 450 years, he, too, can earn what the CE earns in one year! Oh, and by the way, again according to those figures, that CE was paid £1.916 million in 2003. This means, according to my calculations, an increase of 180% from 2003 to 2008. I haven't got the figures in front of me, but does anyone know if the minimum wage went up by 180% in that time?
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