The political pressure group Compass has launched a campaign for a ‘High Pay Commission’ to regulate against inflated wages for risk-taking bankers. Following the return of big bonuses this year, as if the financial crisis never happened, the group argue that excessive wages cannot be left to the industry to sort out voluntarily.
“The crisis we find ourselves in is one significantly caused by greed” reads the campaign statement. “The salaries of those at the top raced away while the median wage stagnated. Inequality grew, and an economic crisis ensued.”
As an example of this inequality, they point out that it would take 226 years working at minimum wage to earn just one year’s salary for a bank CEO.
The idea for a High Pay Commission would match the efforts of the Low Pay Commission, which reported in 1997 and led to the introduction of the minimum wage. Could such a commission end up recommending a maximum wage?
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