Quotation from http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2008/02/what-about-excessive-athlete.html

Quotation from cost of Wars

http://cbs2.com/national/Vietnam.iraq.war.2.780417.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_did_the_Vietnam_War_cost&alreadyAs...
http://www.spanamwar.com/warcosts.htm

Quotation:

Relative Monetary Costs of American Wars

By Patrick McSherry

---------------------------------------------------------------------------­-----

General:
This article provides a basic monetary cost comparison of American
wars from the Civil War to Vietnam.

The data:

One interesting comparison concerning the Spanish American War is the
relative financial cost of the war. This is one quantitative way of
studying the war, but, of course, it must be remembered that the
financial cost can never address the death, pain and suffering on all
sides of this, or any other, war.

Still, the following figures are interesting. These costs, adjusted
for year 2000 dollars, are the costs for the major conflicts in which
the U.S. was involved since the mid-19th century through Vietnam. It
is not clear from the source if these costs reflect total cost or
just
U.S. costs, but it would appear that they are U.S. costs only.
Assuming, however, that they are all calculated the same, they do
make
for an interesting comparison.

American Civil War $62 Billion
Spanish American War $5 Billion
World War One $290 Billion
World War Two $2,300 Billion
Korean Conflict $111 Billion
Vietnam $165 Billion

The Spanish American War had a very dramatic effect on American
history in that the U.S. became an accepted world power virtually
overnight, catapulting the nation onto the world stage. Though each
of
the conflicts listed above had a strong effect on this country in
many
ways, the Spanish American War's legacy remains with us...and set the
stage for the U.S.'s involvement in all of the later conflicts listed
above. From a nationalistic U.S standpoint it could be argued that
seldom has the country had such a large effect from such a small
financial investment.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------­-----

Bibliography:
World Features Syndicate, Durham, NH, as reported in the Lancaster,
PA
Intelligencer Journal, on April 3, 2000.

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| Print Jul 26, 2008 6:00 am US/Pacific
Cost Of Iraq War Reaches Vietnam Levels
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The total cost of the Iraq war is approaching the
Vietnam War's expense, a congressional report estimates, while
spending for military operations after 9/11 has exceeded it.

The new report by the Congressional Research Service estimates the
U.S. has spent $648 billion on Iraq war operations, putting it in
range with the $686 billion, in 2008 dollars, spent on the Vietnam
War, the second most expensive war behind World War II.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. has doled out
almost $860 billion for military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and
elsewhere around the world.

All estimates, adjusted for inflation, are based on the costs of
military operations and don't include expenses for veterans benefits,
interest on war-related debts or assistance to war allies, according
to the nonpartisan CRS.

The report underscores how the price tag has been gradually rising
for
the war in Iraq, which began in March 2003. In late 2002, then-White
House budget director Mitch Daniels estimated the Iraq war would cost
$50 billion to $60 billion. A year later, L. Paul Bremer, then-chief
of the U.S. occupation government in Iraq, said the war would cost
$100 billion.

Yet the Iraq war has consumed less of the nation's gross domestic
product than other pricey conflicts. The Iraq war's costs represented
1 percent of GDP in the peak year of the war. World War II, with a
$4.1 trillion price tag in 2008 dollars, was nearly 36 percent of GDP
and the Vietnam War was 2.3 percent of GDP in that wars' peak years.

The report says comparisons of war expenses over hundreds of years
"are inherently problematic" because of varying definitions of war
costs. For example, the report's figures for the Vietnam War are
Defense Department estimates of the incremental costs of military
operations -- the costs of war activities more than the normal, day-
to-
day costs of a standing military force. The costs for post 9/11
military operations are estimated from Congress-appropriated amounts
and Defense Department reports.

The CRS report warns that comparisons of costs in inflation-adjusted
prices are a "very rough exercise."

"It is difficult to know what it really means to compare costs of the
American Revolution to costs of military operations in Iraq when, 230
years ago, the most sophisticated weaponry was a 36-gun frigate that
is hardly comparable to a modern $3.5 billion destroyer," researchers
wrote.

Here are the report's estimated costs of major wars, in 2008 dollars,
and their costs as a percentage of GDP in each of their peak years:

--American Revolution: $1.8 billion; GDP figure not available
--War of 1812: $1.2 billion; 2.2 percent
--Civil War, Union: $45.2 billion; 11.3 percent
--Civil War, Confederacy: $15.2 billion; GDP figure not available
--World War I: $253 billion; 13.6 percent
--World War II: $4.1 trillion; 35.8 percent
--Korean War: $320 billion; 4.2 percent
--Vietnam War: $686 billion; 2.3 percent
--Gulf War: $96 billion; 0.3 percent
--Iraq war: $648 billion; 1 percent
--Afghanstian/Global war on terror: $171 billion; 0.3 percent
--Post 9/11 domestic security: $33 billion; 0.1 percent
--Post 9/11 operations: $859 billion; 1.2 percent

((c) 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material
may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
From Our PartnersCareers: Find a job in Los Angeles

SPONSORED LINKS Get listed here

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. has doled out
almost $860 billion for military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and
elsewhere around the world.
CBS

Close

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. has doled out
almost $860 billion for military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and
elsewhere around the world.

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Quotation:

[ Sports Illustrated--For the fourth straight year, Sports
Illustrated set out to rank the 50 top-earning American athletes
(taking into account on and off the field income), and it's no
surprise to see the familiar names at the top of the list (see chart
above, click to enlarge). The most obvious? Tiger Woods has reached
an
otherworldly plateau of nearly $112 million. Boxing is back from the
dead for now, thanks to No. 2 Oscar De La Hoya, and the Shaq and Kobe
rivalry lives on.

Half the list is made up of NBA players, while only 12 baseball
players and five football players made the cut. There were three
NASCAR drivers and just one woman (welcome, Michelle Wie!)

NEW YORK (AP) - An Associated Press calculation shows that
compensation for America's top CEOs has skyrocketed into the
stratospheric heights of pro athletes and movie stars: Half make more
than $8.3 million a year, and some make much, much more.

Comment: Average compensation in 2007 of the top 50 athletes was
$23.4
million, and median salary was $19.4 million. Median salary for CEOs
in 2007 was only $8.3m for the 386 companies in the AP study
referenced above (obviously a larger sample than for the SI athlete
list).

Question: Why is it that when CEO salaries "skyrocket into the
stratospheric heights of pro athletes," CEO salaries are condemned as
"excessive?" Where is the outrage about athletes' salaries? After
all,
athletes made the stratospheric salaries before the CEOs did, so
shouldn't those salaries also be considered excessive?

Based on Google searches, apparently not: Search for "excessive CEO
compensation" and you'll find more than 3,000 references. Search for
"excessive athlete compensation," and you'll find 0.

Update 1: See previous CD post on "excessive celebrity pay."

Update 2: Google search for "overpaid athletes" = 12,600 hits. Google
search for "overpaid CEOs" = 8,530 hits. Thanks to an anonymous
commenter.

Stumble It! * Digg This! * Reddit!

Posted @ 1:08 AM Permanent Link 20 Comments

20 Comments:
At 6:10 AM, richard said...
Search for "excessive athlete compensation," and you'll find 0.

Actually, you'll find 2.

Just kidding,

;-)

At 7:22 AM, juandos said...
Hey Richard:

Your comment struck a chord of interest and I did look it up...

I found this posting dated Nov. 19, 2003: CEOs Are Ridiculed for Huge
Salaries: Why Aren't Athletes and Entertainers? on the Knowledge @
Wharton (freebie sign up) so you actually stumbled over somthing
that's really interesting...

At 7:58 AM, Anonymous said...
Maybe it is because the athletes aren't perceived as being able to
excessively influence their compensation committees?

The paying public votes for various athletes compensation packages
through their actions. CEO compensation is under no such free market
scrutiny.

At 8:09 AM, Machiavelli999 said...
Lol, anonymous.

Tell that to Merryl Lynch's recently departed CEO.

At 8:15 AM, Abby said...
I'm an editor for seekingalpha.com, and would appreciate if you could
contact me at your earliest convenience, acar...@seekingalpha.com.

At 8:26 AM, Anonymous said...
"...nearly half of the Fortune 250 companies received executive pay
advice from consultants that were providing much more lucrative
services to the company..."

http://www.financialweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080201/REG/...

At 9:10 AM, Walt G. said...
Who cares what athletes make? If ticket prices get too high, just
stop
going to the game. If a sports team goes out of business, too bad.

Publicly held companies, however, are supposed to be answering to the
stockholders. If CEOs are performing well and increasing stockholder
equity, then, they are worth their money. I think the big problem
that
gets all the attention is the CEOs who get paid a lot of money to
come
to a company who then get paid a lot more money to leave after poor
performance.

Stockholders expect their board of directors to look out for their
best interest and not the CEO's best interest. Is that really too
much
to ask?

At 9:40 AM, Anonymous said...
Mark,

I've always also wondered why nobody ever comments on "excessive
entertainer compensation" either. I often hear actors and muscians
criticize CEO compensation. Wonder what we would find if we shined
the
light on them?

At 10:11 AM, Walt G. said...
I don't see how anyone can compare compensation between private and
public companies. It's really nobody's business what the compensation
is in private business. It's everyone's business what the
compensation
is in a public business. If a company decides to go public, they give
up ANY privacy rights. Many of the problems nowadays stem from public
companies trying to hide or distort legally required information.

At 10:12 AM, Mark J. Perry said...
Anon: See update on this post, I have a link to a previous post on
"excessive celebrity pay."

At 10:29 AM, Anonymous said...
Many sports teams are owned by publicly traded companies. Also, what
if the private company is receiving public funds, such as Blackwater
or other private contractors? Aren't there salaries also then our
business? It seems that there would be a lot of room for abuse with
no
transparency.

At 10:42 AM, Charles Slavik, CPT*D said...
If you serach Google for the term "overpaid athletes", which is the
terminology most used on the sports page, you get 30,000 hits.
Excessive compensation is the terminology used most often on the
business pages.

At 10:46 AM, Walt G. said...
Entertainers and CEOs are in different labor markets. CEOs and
factory
workers are in different labor markets. If we can compare the former;
we can compare the latter.

Personally, I think they should all be compensated using the free-
market system. Talents cost money; however, as a stockholder I expect
full and legal disclosure. Stockholders deserve to know exactly what
they are paying for.

Anon:
I think if a team is publicly owned, the compensation of the CEO/
executives and not the hired help (athletes) would be disclosed.
Athletes would be considered and listed as "labor" cost and potential
stock buyers would use that as one piece of information to decide
whether to make an investment in that team. As you implied,
transparency is important in making choices of where to invest
limited
resources.

At 3:30 PM, Marko said...
I think the answer to this has something to do with regular people
being able to see what these people do. They know how great Tiger is
if they ever tried to play golf, or how great Shaq is if they played
ball in high school. Most people have no idea that the CEO of Boeing
is maybe as great or better at what he does than Tiger in his field.
Plus the whole class envy thing, and intentional lack of economic
eduction in secondary and post secondary schools.

At 4:04 PM, Walt G. said...
Although some people are born with extraordinary ability (not
everyone
can be Tiger Woods--he also works very hard at improving his game),
everyone, with hard work, can do well and aspire for greatness. Too
much time and effort is wasted worrying about what someone else has.
At the same time, I don't like spending my hard-earned money on
investments where people are illegally hiding information from me or
rewarding mediocrity instead of merit.

At 1:06 PM, patrickd said...
There is a pretty clear link between the income generated by the
celebs/athletes and their salaries, which is not nearly as clear with
the CEO's, expecially those whose performance is poor.

At 8:26 PM, juandos said...
Walt G says: "Stockholders expect their board of directors to look
out
for their best interest and not the CEO's best interest. Is that
really too much to ask?"...

Is it to much to ask shareholders to vote with their wallets if they
don't like the executive pay packages CEOs get?

At 9:22 AM, Walt G. said...
I can deal with disclosed CEO pay. I don't buy into the hype that
CEOs
are overpaid. It's the hidden stuff and pay for non-performance I
have
a problem with. I can't make rational purchasing decisions without
correct information. Don't free markets require transparency? One of
my mutual funds has/had a lot of Home Depot stock, and I'm still
upset
with the money they paid when that CEO left.

At 8:28 PM, Anonymous said...
It's all supply and demaand.... demand for teachers is, i dunno, lets
say high... supply is also high. Demand for guy that can slam dunk
over a few other guys and fill an areana is high, supply is limited.
Then comes the supply and demand for watching the game... the supply
of basketball games in NY area (Knicks and Nets) is decent, demand is
high, so they get away with high ticket prices and forget the
beers....! :D

At 11:27 AM, Michael Ejercito said...
It's everyone's business what the compensation is in a public
business.
It is only the business of the board of directors and stockholders.

If a CEO makes too much, then most of the public would be unaware.
But
the few who would be aware would be financial institutions who own
stock in the company, or are considering buying stock in the company.
For them , the value of the company's stock would immediately be
lowered, even if most of the public is ignorant of this issue.

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