Comments on economics, mystery fiction, drama, and art.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Paying for Performance

Here, from the Chronicle of Higher Education's report on executive compensation, the ten highest-paid presidents at Division I schools with football programs--and the coach's salaries. Names have been suppressed to protect the guilty. Listed in order of University President's salary:

...............................President..........Coach
Washington...........$752,700........$1,414,772
Virginia..................$731,672........$1,785,000
Virginia Tech.........$659,461........$2,008,000
Michigan................$643,151........$1,454,619
Arizona State.........$609,194........$ 991,000
Texas....................$599,780.........$2,664,000
Central Florida......$584,708........$1,035,000
Rutgers.................$566,999........$ 911,000
Florida...................$441,849........$1,524,550
Florida State.........$417,127.........$1,691,900

It may (or may not) be worth noting that 5 of the 10 schools on this list are in Virginia and Florida. And that the list is not exactly a list of public universities renowned for their educational quality (Michigan and Washington are so regarded, though).

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Am I missing something here?

Courtesy of The Daily Telegraph:

Chatting off-air to a television reporter,
a stunningly candid off-the-cuff quip from
the Hollywood actor cemented the impression
that his heart is not in the 2008 race. Trying
to encourage his studio to hurry up so an
interview could start, Carl Cameron of Fox
News said into his microphone: "The next
president of the United States has a schedule
to keep." Standing beside him, a deadpan
Mr Thompson interjected: "And so do I."
As some Thompson aides looked bemused
and others cringed, a taken-aback Mr Cameron,
Fox's chief political correspondent,
exclaimed: "You can't do that kind of stuff!"


I thought Thompson's remark was pretty funny; AOL's Jonathan Berr comments: "The thud you just heard was the Fred Thompson bandwagon grinding to a halt."

Isn't the real story that Carl Cameron, who apparently plays a television news analyst, but is uncertain of his motivation, exclaims "You can't do that kind of stuff"?