【Oneofthemostdifficultquestionstoanswerishowmuchajobisworth.Wenaturallyexpectthatadoctor’ssalarywillbehigherthanabusconductor’swages.Butthequestionbecomesmuchmoredifficulttoanswerwhenwecompareaminer】

　　Oneofthemostdifficultquestionstoanswerishowmuchajobisworth.Wenaturallyexpectthatadoctor’ssalarywillbehigherthanabusconductor’swages.Butthequestionbecomesmuchmoredifficulttoanswerwhenwecompareaminerwithanengineer,oranunskilledmanworkingonanoil-rig（钻探平台）withateacherinasecondaryschool.Whatthedoctor,theengineerandtheteacherhaveincommonisthattheyhavedevotedseveralyearstostudyinginordertoobtainthenecessaryqualificationsfortheirprofessions.Wefeelinstinctivelythattheseskillsandtheseyearsshouldberewarded.Atthesametimewerecognizethattheworkoftheminerandtheoil-riglaborerisbothhardanddangerous,andthattheymustbehighlypaidfortheriskstheytake.

　　Anotheraspectwemusttakeintoconsiderationishowsociallyusefulaman’sworkis.Mostpeoplewouldagreethatlookingafterthesickorteachingchildrenismoreimportantthan,say,sellingsecond-handcars.Yetitisalmostcertainthattheused-carsalesmanearnsmorethanthenurseandtheschoolteacher.

　　Indeed,thiswholequestionofjustrewardscanbeturnedonitshead.Youcanarguethatamanwhodoesajobwhichbringshimpersonalsatisfactionisalreadyreceivingpartofhisrewardintheformofaso-called“psychic（精神的）wage”,andthatitisthemanwiththeboring,repetitivejobwhoneedsmoremoneytomakeupforthesoul-destroyingrepetitivenessofhiswork.Itissignificantthatthejobslikenursingandteachingcontinuetobepoorlypaid,whileothers,suchasthoseintheworldofsportorentertainment,carryfinancialrewardsoutofallproportiontotheirsocialworth.

　　Althoughtheamountofmoneythatpeopleearnislargelydeterminedbymarketforces,thisshouldnotpreventusfromseekingsomewaytodecidewhatistherightpayforthejob.Astartingpointwouldbetotrytodecidetheratio（比率）whichoughttoexistbetweenthehighestandthelowestpaid.Thepictureismademorecomplicatedbytwofactors:firstlybythewelfarebenefitswhicheverycitizenreceives,andsecondlybythetaxationsystemwhichisoftenusedasaninstrumentofsocialjusticebytaxinghighincomesataveryhighrateindeed.Mostcountriesnowregardaratioof7:1associallyacceptable.Ifitisless,thehighly-qualifiedpeoplecarryingheavy