I like your point, David. I'd add that not only do they not offer services to increase people's happiness, but in the past few years have cultivated an environment in which irresponsible behavior was rewarded, and which has led to what I tend to think of as a perfectly foreseeable financial catastrophe. (I say that last part because many people *did* tell us this was coming.)
Either they were knowingly irresponsible with other people's money, or they were getting huge bonuses in spite of their ignorance of the consequences of their behavior. These people get it both ways: they get rewarded when they make a lot of money, and they get rewarded when they cause huge losses. It's hard to think of another line of work that goes that way. Pretty much everyone else has to reap what they sow. m -- Marc Carter, PhD Associate Professor and Chair Department of Psychology College of Arts & Sciences Baker University -- > -----Original Message----- > From: David Epstein [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2009 3:02 PM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: Re: [tips] Op-Ed Contributor - Dear A.I.G., I Quit! > - NYTimes.com > > On Thu, 26 Mar 2009, Paul Brandon went: > > > It's interesting that no one on this list has said anything about > > athletes and other entertainers, some of whom 'earn' as > much yearly as > > the entire AIG bonus list! > > > > And yes, you pay for their salaries through advertising > costs passed > > on to you through the products you purchase (where do you > think that > > the money comes from?). > > I've frequently thought about that, and I don't see a problem with it. > If David Letterman gets $30 million a year and averages five > million viewers per night (on each of approximately 200 > nights per year), he can justify his income by providing a > mere three pennies' worth of entertainment to each viewer > each night. I'm not being facetious about that. A daily or > weekly dose of a TV show can enhance the quality of life of > each viewer who enjoys it. So, in the aggregate, a TV > performer can provide many millions (perhaps billions) of dollars' > worth of pleasure, if the metric of pleasure is "How much > would you, the individual viewer, pay for the experience you > just had?" > > AIG executives provided no such service. > > --David Epstein > [email protected] > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([email protected]) > "The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto ("e-mail") is sent by Baker University ("BU") and is intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. The information may be protected by federal and state privacy and disclosures acts or other legal rules. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error please immediately notify Baker University by email reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail message and any attachments thereto. Thank you." --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
