Yesterday my family and I got in the car and drove to Arizona for the day to see my beloved Los Angeles Dodgers play a Cactus League game against the Chicago White Sox at their new spring training complex known as Camelback Ranch.
The Dodgers lost 6-1 and, I gotta tell you, if the Dodgers don’t find some pitching help real soon it’s going to be a very long season. We all had a great time anyway. In fact, we vowed to make the trip again next year — whether the Dodgers find decent pitching or not.
While watching Dodger superstar Manny Ramirez (who went 2 for 3), I started to think about how much money this guy makes and what it must feel like from a financial perspective to be in his shoes; Manny is earning $25 million this year. Talk about being blessed!
According to the New York Times, in 2006 the average joe was paid a wage of only $46,996. That’s 532 times less than Manny Ramirez. Taking that data into account, and ignoring the effects of inflation, here’s what most people would experience if their modest wages gave them buying-power equivalent to Manny Ramirez:
The average home in the United States could be purchased for $413, based upon a median price of $220,000.
Of course, those that felt like “moving on up” could buy a $2 million beachfront home in Malibu for $3,760…
… or Don Imus’s mansion in Westport, CT, for $56,391, based upon his asking price of $30 million. (Good luck on that one, Don.)
A fully-loaded BMW 7-series sedan would cost $158, based upon the manufacturer’s list price of $84,200.
Then again, for the practical types, a Honda Civic would run only $29, based upon an MSRP of just over $15,505.
$79 would buy Dodgers season tickets with four of the best seats in the house, based upon an advertised price of $42,140.
A top-of-the-line iMac computer would cost $4.
An iPod Classic could be had for 46 cents…
…the more frugal types could buy an iPod Shuffle for only 15 cents instead.
Folks could drive their Hummers or other gas-guzzlers to their heart’s content because even a $50 fill-up at the gas station would only cost about 9 cents.
Meanwhile, the hungry could buy 5 items from their favorite restaurant’s one-dollar value menu for a single penny — and even have a little change coming back!
Depending on your actual wages, these numbers will vary slightly, but I think you get the idea. Hopefully, this little exercise allowed you to escape for a minute or two and envision just how well-off many of these superstar athletes have it — and how out-of-touch most of them have become as to what it is really like to live with the rest of us here in the real world.
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How about the after-tax equivalent? In California, all income over $1M is taxed at 10.3%, and the federal tax rate for a sports star is higher than the average Joe too. I don’t think it would make a huge difference, but it might bump those costs up by 25% or so.
@BD: Good points. Although I am too lazy to run the numbers, as you stated the after-tax equivalent wouldn’t make a significant difference. I equate the tax impacts on the rich as being similar to a gnat on the behind of an elephant. Maybe it’s slightly annoying for the elephant, but in the end no real impact.
This is some good information, I just finished my paper for class and think i may need to bookmark or save this for the second class lol. You may have just made me a regular
Great information.. People can really see what things are costing these millionaires compared to the average person.. Keep it up RICH :0)
“That’s 532 times less than Manny Ramirez” is mathematical nonsence.
You might have reasonably said, 1/532 of Manny’s income.
Example: say the income is $1. One time the income is $1. two times the income is $2. 532 times the income is $532.
So, 532 times less income than $1 is minus $531.
532 times less than $25million comes out to minus $13,275,000,000. Even including the apportioned national debt this number is difficult to believe.
Thank you for your attention,
Frederick
Okay, but I think you’re splitting hairs. The trouble is, Frederick, semantics can be a double-edged sword: Your assertion that “532 times less income than $1 is minus $531″ is also nonsense. By definition, you can’t have negative income.
Yes, you can have negative income, Len. That is what happens when the outgo is the larger number.
You could have expressed Manny’s income as 532 times that of an average wage earner; folks would have seen the relationship and it would have been accurate, as well.
(I have the same issue with commercials that advertise using ’3 times less detergent’. If we keep spewing misinformation and pretending the words don’t matter we shouldn’t be surprised when kids end up with a cloudy understanding on financial matters.)
Frederick
Okay, you win. But you’re still splitting hairs. Technically, negative income is outgo — the lowest income possible is zero. In the US the lexicon is such that we also drive on parkways and park on driveways, but everybody understands their meaning even though they are technically incorrect. Likewise for the original argument. And the fact that you clearly understood what I originally meant (as did, I strongly suspect, 99% of the other readers because that is the generally accepted lexicon) really makes these arguments much ado about nothing. Yes? (Oh, don’t answer that; I know what you’ll say! LOL)
Len, I just recently found your stuff and have been reading scores of your posts. FYI A giant hospital in Wichita put up a giant billboard that said “300% less radiation…” They got so many emails and even a tv news story that they took it down. Maybe YOU think that the “lexicon” is such, but here in KS we are tired of the “Dumbing down of America” by such morons and, it appears, you fit in that category, sorry. Your assinine responses to Frederick Baguhn were just that and it is too bad you can’t just admit that your statement was in error logically and mathaematically. F B and I just ask that you learn from this. A parkway ia a “roadWAY” that goes by a park (originally they were)and a driveway is a way to drive into your garage: you can park on a parkway (you might get a ticket) and I (EVERY DAY) drive on my driveway. You have my email, kindly reply.
Wow, Randy. Asinine responses? How are they asinine? I admitted that, technically, I was wrong — what more do you want from me? I did “learn” from that lesson. That doesn’t change my point that the argument is pedantic. I thought I made my case by stating that you also can’t have negative income. After all, if Frederick felt the need to call me on one point of minutia, then I’m going to call him on one too. Pedantry is an all or nothing sport; those who insist on playing that game must agree to live and die by the same rules.
My main point still stands that as long as folks are properly getting their message across, we’re only splitting hairs. Let me give you another example:
Your post includes several typos and misspellings including “assinine” and “mathaematically.” Pot, meet kettle. By your logic, you too are contributing to the “dumbing down of America” — even though I still understood your point completely. So, to use the term you so boldly decided to pin on me, does that make you a “moron” because you can’t spell a couple words? Of course not!
That kind of nonsensical thought-process, ironically, only occurs in the minds of pedants. Sorry.
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