DirkJohanson in The New York Times on The Wage Gap

January 29, 2010

The Superfreakonomics Virtual Book Club on the New York Times online ran a discussion between two labor economics on the guy-female wage gap.

While largely siding with the guys’ side of on the issue in presentation their justifications for the gap – after all, the Freakonomics people are known for poking holes in conventional stupidity - the economists (Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz) did not touch a third-rail. Since I don’t shy away from third-rail issues - indeed, I view them as invitation to touch – I submitted the following comment:

Like any discussion of this topic, there is one thing no one ever wants to consider: the possibility that guys, on average, are simply more valuable workers than women.

Guys are from Earth, women are from Venus. As I noted in We can do anything better than they can – Part I in a Series of About a Billion , look at the Earth, and nearly everything on Earth that has been accomplished worth mentioning – its nearly all been done by guys. Maybe there’s a reason for that – and any study that does not explore that possibility is fatally flawed.

A presumptive Guyinist named Brian also added some wisdom on an aspect of the issue which I have also long considered under-considered. Here are Brian’s words, reproduced in their entirety:

Did you control for height? It is well known that tall men make more than short men, and men are taller than women, so I wonder how much of the difference could be explained by that

Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised, if, adjusted for height, the wage gap actually favors women. Remember, most of them wear high-heel shoes.

I’ll have a strategy for you to fight back on height/wage gap issue later. For now I’ll just leave you with a URL: http://tallmenshoes.com/

Just remember Guyinism when it comes to making donations with all that extra money you’ll be earning – unless, of course, you blow it all on all the extra women you’ll be getting.