What is your opinion on the income of celebrities and athletes?

1. 61

   momsterposted 13 years ago

   What is your opinion on the income of celebrities and athletes?
   
   Many celebrities and athletes make millions for their career in the entertainment business? Do you think they should make that kind of money? Do you believe it is the publics business to know how much these people make?

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2. 70

   connorjposted 13 years ago

   I believe their salaries are significantly too (astronomically) high. Having said that, in order for my decision to have any influence on the amount they are paid I will have to stop paying to watch them in action. I will also have to stop watching them on TV to affect advertising ratings. I will also have to stop going to movies and purchasing products that they are endorsing...
   If their audience would indeed do all of this it will indeed bring down their salaries and bring down the cost of attending major league games in te NBL, ABL, NHL, NBA, NFL even the CFL...
   I really do not think we have a right to know their salaries and bonuses; however, we do have free will when it comes to supporting them...

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3. 0

   Ari Lamsteinposted 13 years ago

   The best treatment of this topic that I found was in "The Winner-Take-All Society: Why the Few at the Top Get So Much More Than the Rest of Us" by Robert H. Frank and Philip J. Cook: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0140259953.
   
   There is a lot to say about this topic, and I feel that the authors do a great job.  A few things that I remember about the topic right now:
   
   While the most actors might make millions of dollars a year, this does not represent the compensation of most actors.  For example, salary.com lists the median income of "actor/performer" at around $50,000 a year, and the 90th percentile compensation at $72,000 a year.  A nice living, but hardly millions of dollars!
   
   Another way to look at this data is that, in these fields, a very small increase in ability leads to a dramatic change in compensation.  For example, winning a race in the olympics might lead to several lucrative endorsement contracts for the athlete.  But finishing second, third or fourth might lead to no endorsements at all.  However, these races are often so close that we need a computer to tell us who won!

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