DOLLARS TO DOUGH-NUTS
Like a full moon, the mere thought of lots of money seems to make some people crazy. No doubt you’ve noticed with lotteries, for example, that the higher the jackpot, the more people play the lottery. I mean (leaving aside the astronomical odds against winning), what could you do with $500+ million that you couldn’t do with $250+ million — except maybe buy a sports team, put your money where your political ideology is (think Koch Brothers), or build a Trump Tower-like monument to your ego?
So I found it refreshing to read recently about a guy who not only didn’t let dough go to his head, but stood income inequality on its head: Dan Price, a successful Seattle business owner who decided to help the people who helped him grow his business, by lowering his almost $1 million annual salary to $70,000 and increasing the salary of his 120 employees to that same level. According to Bloomberg Business data, America’s CEO-to-worker pay has increased 1,000% (to a ratio of 300+ to 1) since 1950. Price believed he could make the ratio 1-to-1 without raising prices or decreasing services to customers, and Price was right. Employee morale grew even stronger and business thrived. As a result of this heresy, he was named 2014 Entrepreneur of the year by Entrepreneur Magazine. I suspect it’s not a magazine run by conservatives.
As entrepreneur of this blog, I will now attempt to improve your morale by turning the remainder of this post over to the musings of others on the matter of money and affiliated subjects:
Where I was brought up, we never talked about money because there was never enough to furnish a topic of conversation. –Mark Twain
Whoever said money can’t buy happiness simply didn’t know where to shop. –Bo Derek
The chief ingredient that makes expensive merchandise so expensive is profit. –Evan Esar
I’ve got all the money I’ll ever need, if I die by four o’clock. –Henny Youngman
The only thing wealth does for some people is to make them worry about losing it. —Antoine Rivarol
Men make counterfeit money; in many more cases, money makes counterfeit men. –Sydney J. Harris
The chief value of money lies in the fact that one lives in a world in which it is overestimated. —H.L. Mencken
The definition of a living wage depends upon whether you are getting it or giving it. –Evan Esar
I spent a lot of money on booze, broads and fast cars. The rest I just squandered. –George Best
The leaders of the French Revolution excited the poor against the rich; this made the rich poor, but it never made the poor rich. –Fisher Ames
There are two classes of people: the have-nots and the have-yachts. –Evan Esar
Greed is not a money issue. It’s a heart issue. –Andy Stanley
Don Frankel 6:52 am on May 30, 2015 Permalink |
Call me a cynic but maybe this guy did this after 20 years of banking a million a year. Maybe?
I don’t play lotteries or dream of a lot of money because I’m old enough to know that a lot of money only gets me in trouble. You can quote me on that Muse.
LikeLike
mistermuse 9:57 am on May 30, 2015 Permalink |
Actually, the guy began his business in his college dorm in 2004 at age 19, so he probably didn’t start banking a million until 2005 (just joking – it may have been 2006 or 2007, ha ha).
Glad to hear you don’t dream of a lot of money, Don. After all, there are a lot of other ways to get into trouble!
LikeLike
literaryeyes 3:14 pm on June 1, 2015 Permalink |
This Evan Esar sounds interesting. Thanks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
mistermuse 5:14 pm on June 1, 2015 Permalink |
Evan Esar is the author of a 1968 book titled 20,000 QUIPS & QUOTES (both his and those of others). I think you can still buy it online, if interested.
LikeLike
arekhill1 9:51 am on June 9, 2015 Permalink |
Money is the root of all evil,. they say. Personally, I can’t afford all the evil I want, so it may be true.
LikeLike
mistermuse 3:30 pm on June 9, 2015 Permalink |
I’m not buying that, Ricardo – I hear you wouldn’t kill a fly (unless it was hovering around your glass of brew).
LikeLike