The table above is from a report on the fast food industry from Demos, a left-leaning think tank. I am passing it along for what it is worth. I was looking for something else when I stumbled across it. What I was seeking was an analysis of how unequal various industries are with actuaryish sorts of things like medians, means, modes, and standard deviations.
I don’t think that the table is as meaningful or outrageous as its authors seem to. What it tells me is that the hospitality sector uses a lot of low-wage workers which is not precisely a revelation. It doesn’t bother me that Ben Roethlisberger makes $45 million a year or that Bill Gates has a net worth of $105 billion since I don’t think that prodigies like those are the reason that income inequality is so high in the United States.
