Minimum Wages

The following letter was published hed in today’s Oz –

Some lateral thinking on minimum wages.

May I suggest setting the minimum wage as a fixed fraction of the total salaries of the wealthiest? The formula could be very simple. For example the minimum wage could be set at 5 per cent of the average remuneration of the top 1 per cent of all earners. In that way, every time a CEO manages to screw a few more million out of his board, everyone else will have to be paid a small increase. This will cause restraint at the top end and fairness at the bottom, and save much legal argument.

J. Whitehead, Chapel Hill, Qld

This is one of the most common-sensed proposals I’ve seen in a month of Sundays. I wonder how the captains of industry would deal with it.

I've got a pretty fair idea.

Transition Object

I drove 25km to buy the paper this morning. 

This had something to do with the fact that I now own a Mazda MX5 roadster. For years (since I was 17) I’ve wanted a sports car. Arguably, this is as close as I’ll ever get.

I reckon that at the rate my investments are being diminished by the crazy stock market, and the progress of arthritis and advancing senility, I have limited time to realise the dream.

This car was too good to miss. It has 34000 on the clock, was owned by a young married woman who drove it to work, and garaged it nightly. It has all the boring reliability of a modern Japanese car, but is a blast to drive.

This morning I drove down the mountain with the top down to buy the paper. Driving this thing gives a whole new meaning to sensory overload. It’s amazing how much more aware of your surroundings you become without a metal and glass cover over your head.

There is a downside. Cattle crates don’t mix well with open topped vehicles.

“Transition Object?”- This thing will assist in a smooth transition to old age.

Best of all, my children have automatic licenses only, so no more “Can I have the car please, Dad?” 

A six speed gearbox hopefully will be too much of a challenge.