tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2826531655042170344.post3571496379181579535..comments2024-03-26T11:29:52.986+00:00Comments on Economic Incentives: Public and Private Pay – Again!Seamushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15679299530222667673noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2826531655042170344.post-3745956479503381422011-09-29T13:46:09.655+01:002011-09-29T13:46:09.655+01:00@ Steve
Gross pay does not reflect the impact of ...@ Steve<br /><br />Gross pay does not reflect the impact of the Public Sector Pension Levy. Also our progressive tax system does its job and any gap in gross pay is narrowed by the time net pay is calculated. The gap between public and private pay is not as large as the headlines might suggest. <br /><br />To fully analyse the difference you would also have to account for differences in the characteristics of each group - education, experience, responsilibility etc. Once these are accounted for the gap you perceive will be very different.<br /><br />It is also important to remember that the public pay figure is based on 350,000 civil and public servants and also 50,000 semi-state employees. Privatisation is a possibility for some of the semi-states but in many cases they are natural monopolies so the scope for competition is limited. <br /><br />It is hard to see how competition and privatisation are important when considering the 350,000 public servants (45,000 in the civil service, 116,000 in education, 130,000 in health, 25,000 in defence and an garda, 34,000 in regional bodies).<br /><br />What is the "fundamental issue" you refer to?Seamus Coffeyhttp://economic-incentives.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2826531655042170344.post-90276493045231100772011-09-29T09:53:49.839+01:002011-09-29T09:53:49.839+01:00Hi Seamus,
Where does the 2/3 of the way there co...Hi Seamus,<br /><br />Where does the 2/3 of the way there come from? The public sector gross average weekly wages are still nearly 50% higher than the private sector. The CSO graph you show indicates that the gap has started increasing again in the last quarter.<br /><br />Surely tinkering with income tax rates and bands is not dealing with the fundamental issue? Isn't the solution competition and privatisation?<br /><br />SteveAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com