A Fairer Pay System?

Letter to the New York Times (April 5, 2014) To the Editor: Re “Can We Close the Pay Gap?,” by Deborah Hargreaves (“The Great Divide” series, Sunday Review, March 30): One of the problems of tying the pay of chief executives (or other senior management) to that of the typical or lowest paid employee of the company (such as capping C.E.O. pay to 50 times that of the median worker at the company) is that it creates incentives for senior management to artificially elevate the median pay. As Ms. Hargreaves mentions, a greedy C.E.O. could improve his remuneration by outsourcing, offshoring or even eliminating low-paid positions. A better stick to engender greater social responsibility by senior managers might be to tie their compensation to the national median income. In this way captains of industry — who hold a lot of political sway — are motivated to think about the greater society, and what is good for corporate America would also be good for the nation as a whole. KAI L. CHAN Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 31, 2014 Letter as it appeared in the NYT © 2014 New York Times Company

Learning poor

Letter to the Globe & Mail (November 19, 2013) Reading this essay (What I learned in law school:  The poor need not apply (Nov 17, 2013)) made me think of my own story of escaping poverty and the challenges that are common for those of lesser means to overcome institutional hurdles. Poverty meant I worked long hours in part-time jobs at restaurants and supermarkets as a student, while peers could devote themselves to studying or socializing. The part-time income disqualified me from student financial aid, even as less honest and affluent peers found ways to milk the academic loan system. Coming from a family where my parents had just primary education and scraped by on minimum wage, I was clueless about the workplace for university grads, while my peers could rely on their family social connections to help them secure good employment. Nevertheless, my story had a happy ending – I graduated with a doctorate and found gainful work that took me to Singapore, New York and now Dubai – though I know many capable people who were not as fortunate. As reader Dianne Cooper (Talking Point, Nov. 16) notes, it should come as no surprise that fairness is not embedded…

More thoughts on diversity

Letter to the Princeton Alumni Weekly (October 9, 2013 edition) In response to: Seek only the best, brightest Why are Asian-Americans always singled out in the conversation about over-representation in higher education compared with their national number (e.g. letters in the July 10 issue)? Jewish Americans form an even smaller percentage of the U.S. population (about 2 percent) and have just as large numbers in elite schools in the country, where they number roughly 25 percent at leading schools, and about 13 percent at Princeton. If former President Tilghman and those who support her ideas are so committed to the notion of bringing about skin-deep diversity, would they advocate that Jewish Americans form just 2 percent of the student body at Princeton? That idea is a non-starter, as it should be. As letter-writer Russ Nieli asserts, the only principle that should matter is talent, and we should do away with notions of skin-deep diversity when it comes to assembling the student and faculty body of Princeton. Kai L. Chan *08 Dubai, United Arab Emirates October 9, 2013 PAW letters section

Fed watchers seem to have a blind spot

Letter to the Financial Times (May 29, 2013) From Mr Kai L. Chan. Sir, In the game of forecasting the next chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Edward Luce and the usual Fed watchers are overlooking one obvious choice: Alan Blinder (“Summers has an edge in the race to head the Fed”, May 27). Professor Blinder is one of the world’s foremost monetary economists, with academic credentials remarkably similar to Ben Bernanke – both earned their PhD (economics) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and became tenured professors at Princeton University. In terms of practical experience, Prof Blinder was vice-chairman at the Fed from 1994 to 1996; and at age 67 he is also younger than Donald Kohn. As a regular contributor in the media to the policy discussions surrounding central banking, it is surprising that his name has not been mentioned more often. Kai L. Chan, Dubai, UAE Letter as it appeared in the FT Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013.

Student life

Letter to the Economist (December 15, 2012) SIR – Although online courses in higher education are a mostly positive development, real learning in universities does not come just from course content (“Not what it used to be”, December 1st). Interaction on academic and non-academic topics with fellow students matters in and out of the classroom, as does time spent chatting with professors. The traditional university model also forces time-scheduling habits, whereas online learning instils no such discipline. The high tuition at Harvard is the price that one pays for the opportunity to learn in an environment with ambitious, talented peers and renowned academic leaders. After all, people still pay good money to attend sporting events, even if they are broadcast live and free on television. KAI CHAN Dubai Letter as it appeared in the Economist. Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2012. All rights reserved.