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0 pointsBarrin926y ago0 comments

I think complete fiscal transparency would be uncomfortable for a pretty short amount of time before people adjust to it, and the symmetry of information as a result would be extremely helpful.

People ask for a lot of fixes to say, pay inequality between men and women, but I think transparent salaries would go a long way and are a fairly simple mechanism. I have very rarely made the experience that pay inequality, if properly justified, was taken the wrong way.

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6 comments · 3 top-level

raxxorrax6y ago· 2 in thread

I would not want it since employers are in a better position to use that info against you. So bad luck.

alexanderdmitri6y ago

What they pay everyone else and what companies generally pay for the position would be on the table too, so you'd have leverage too right?

Market transparency is good!

raxxorrax6y ago

I am currently working for a family owned business that is about 1.2 km away from my home. It doesn't pay as much as a larger publicly traded company would pay for my qualification and experience. If my potential new employer would know about my comparably low income, he will have a much harder time paying me significantly more or even just the usual market rate and negotiations would be that much harder. Due to other effects it could even lead to him questioning my competence, an often observed behavior. (there are other ways he could find out, but that is another discussion).

Frankly, I am not that interested in what others are payed. This is something I can negotiate with my boss myself and isn't my business for other people. And I don't want others to know about my income either. You can be sure that people will judge you by your income and feel superior if they make even 10 bucks more. Even your friends might get jealous about your income.

Some people see a value in discretion and some people do not. I belong to the former. There is just so much baggage attached to that shit that it isn't attractive to me at all.

cbzoiav6y ago· 1 in thread

Several countries have forced CEO pay to be published in hopes to guilt them into taking less pay.

In most cases it ended up skyrocketing as a result. CEOs could see exactly what every other CEO was on when negotiating. Meanwhile boards didn't want to pay under market rate and be blamed for cheaping out if things went wrong.

Barrin92OP6y ago

>Several countries have forced CEO pay to be published in hopes to guilt them into taking less pay.

That's the wrong intention and not what I described in my post. Maybe in those countries CEO salaries were non competitive or too low compared to the value that a CEO provides. I explicitly said that I see transparency as a mechanism to rationalise salaries, not make them more egalitarian everywhere.

But where I think it without a doubt will have an equalizing effect is between people doing equal work but being compensated differently. That effects ordinary workers more than extraordinary talent.

colmmacc6y ago

I like the idea of full income and tax transparency for the reasons you mention, but worry that some of the negative consequences can be long-lived and very hard to tackle.

For modest earners, their public income can become a kind of super credit rating; it can gate access to some businesses and services, or establishments that want an aura of exclusivity, like social clubs. In effect it can make it harder to jump levels on the ladder.

For high earners, their public income can lead to gouging and an unwillingness to discount. A car dealership or a contractor might use it to gauge price sensitivity.

I'm sure there might be complicated social outcomes too. Would dating change in a world with transparent salaries? Would neighborhoods and neighborhood diversity? For the worse, or better?

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