The Off Topic Topic

[celedhring]

Actually, reading the source the only thing excluded are per diems.

[Josquius]

I make more than some EU heads of government.  Or maybe it is because it is their "base" salary?

It's because you're rich.

[Zanza]

I make more than some EU heads of government.  Or maybe it is because it is their "base" salary?

It's because you're rich.

The 4,606 Euro in Croatia is less than the average income of full-time employees in the German state Baden-Wuerttemberg where I live.

[Barrister]

I make more than some EU heads of government.  Or maybe it is because it is their "base" salary?

I really hate when people bitch and moan about politician's salaries.

I'm a government lawyer as you all well know.  I'm not anybody special in that role, there's plenty of other government lawyers.  Yet my salary is on par with what our Premier makes, and exceeds any other politician.

If I went into politics, was elected, and became the Minister of Justice (who is my boss) I'd actually be taking a pay cut.  That's insane.

[Sheilbh]

I really hate when people bitch and moan about politician's salaries.

Same for civil servants () - there's an absolutely maddening approach here that no-one should really earn more than the PM. I thnk that combined with our civil service preference for generalists is why people tend to last 18 months to 2 years in a job, before moving (and the civil service generally likes people to move departments).

So we don't get the expertise/long experience in a sector that should, I think, be a benefit of a permanent civil service.

[Grey Fox]

Private enterprises have only just started to understand that it's ok for technical people to make more money than their managers.

Hopefully that will extend to civil services in a timely fashion.

[The Larch]

I really hate when people bitch and moan about politician's salaries.

Same for civil servants () - there's an absolutely maddening approach here that no-one should really earn more than the PM. I thnk that combined with our civil service preference for generalists is why people tend to last 18 months to 2 years in a job, before moving (and the civil service generally likes people to move departments).

So we don't get the expertise/long experience in a sector that should, I think, be a benefit of a permanent civil service.

I think that's mostly the, I think, quite unique approach of the UK to the civil service. Over here once you get your civil service job, you don't move departments, you just move up the ladder within your area, and almost no civil servant will even consider going to the private sector.

[Josquius]

I make more than some EU heads of government.  Or maybe it is because it is their "base" salary?

I really hate when people bitch and moan about politician's salaries.

I'm a government lawyer as you all well know.  I'm not anybody special in that role, there's plenty of other government lawyers.  Yet my salary is on par with what our Premier makes, and exceeds any other politician.

If I went into politics, was elected, and became the Minister of Justice (who is my boss) I'd actually be taking a pay cut.  That's insane.

Me too actually.
It's such a low hanging populist fruit that really highlights those doing it as ignorant.
It's a lot to mere mortals but 120k a year really isn't that high at all for someone at the absolute pinnacle of their field and which is such a lifestyle and everything dominating job.
Whenever someone calls for paying MPs minimum wage I just have to question whether making it so only the rich can be MPs is what they actually want.

[Sheilbh]

Private enterprises have only just started to understand that it's ok for technical people to make more money than their managers.

Hopefully that will extend to civil services in a timely fashion.

Yeah - we're nowhere near there. Also, at least here, ,prestige of a role is tied to proximity to power - so the goal is to get to the roles where you're working with ministers, which is very different from becoming a technical/operational specialist.

Whenever someone calls for paying MPs minimum wage I just have to question whether making it so only the rich can be MPs is what they actually want.

Yes, it is. There's a reason paying MPs was literally on the Chartists' demands It's mad we're back at that sort of level - "politicians, should we pay them?"

It's a bit like the whole grindset and way we allow the language of "work" to permeate everything (I blame Americans and Protestants) when the big fight of workers in the early twentieth century was carving space separate from work to allow for human flourishing. I'd fire anyone who didn't take their full holiday

Edit:

I think that's mostly the, I think, quite unique approach of the UK to the civil service. Over here once you get your civil service job, you don't move departments, you just move up the ladder within your area, and almost no civil servant will even consider going to the private sector.

Yeah it is really weird. I sort of know someone who is a fast stream civil servant. She's an acquaintance and every time I see at a friend's party, she's in a different department. Off the top of my head so far she's been in Home, Health and Education - from what I understand if you want to get to the top you need to spend some time in the Treasury too.

I don't think it's bad I just think you almost need both options so people who want to become technical/operational specialists where deep subject knowledge is helpful and people who want to be policy/management specialists where there's an advantage to generalists and breadth of experience.

[Jacob]

I think the lovely pensions are more attractive than the wages, at least to my eyes.

[Barrister]

I think the lovely pensions are more attractive than the wages, at least to my eyes.

Are you talking about pensions for politicians?

They're decent, but not really a reason you'd want to run for office.

For starters some jurisdictions don't have them at all.  Alberta just gives matching RRSP contributions.  Federally, you have to serve at least 6 years - which means you need to be re-elected at least once.  One-and-done MPs get nothing.

And it's not like taking 6+ years out of the prime of your pre-politics career wouldn't put a serious damper on whatever that career was anyways.

[Jacob]

I wasn't just thinking of Canada.

[crazy canuck]

I wasn't just thinking of Canada.

But I think BB's point stands, pensions don't really make up for the wage lose, except in extreme examples.  Wages for politicians have fallen drastically in relative terms.  They used to be considered well paying positions. But a lot of countries adopted the view that politicians should not get raises.  And so their salaries are now well below what a competent person could earn elsewhere.

[Sheilbh]

But I think BB's point stands, pensions don't really make up for the wage lose, except in extreme examples.  Wages for politicians have fallen drastically in relative terms.  They used to be considered well paying positions. But a lot of countries adopted the view that politicians should not get raises.  And so their salaries are now well below what a competent person could earn elsewhere.

Although it'd be interesting - as in that EU chart - to see the comparison to the average salary (or, say, the lowest paid person in an organisation) because I think a significant part of that shift is wage inflation at the top in other sectors. I'd wonder if politicians' wages have fallen in real terms or tracked average wage growth/inflation.

[The Brain]

I hear that Babe Ruth makes more than the President.