Sunday, January 07, 2007

The Next Counterproductive Wage Fix Scheme

If you have enjoyed watching economic illiterates pimp minimum wage increases as serious policy and get away with it, you are going to love the effort to run women out of academia in the name of "gender pay equity."

More than 100 faculty members at the University of Georgia signed a letter of complaint because a national study released in November showed female faculty at the school receive 85.2% as much pay as male faculty members.

Female faculty at the University of Kentucky are at 82.6% and those at the University of Louisville get 78.5%, so the feminist wackos in the bluegrass have so far missed a fabulous excuse to shriek frantically.

Fixing labor costs based on gender at public universities would be impossible to defend if more than sloganeering were necessary. It isn't, of course, so the opportunity shouldn't stay missed for long.

Have at it, ladies. But don't thank me for the heads up. If we force schools to pay female professors above-market salaries, jobs will become more difficult for them to get.