"Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite system is either a madman or an economist." - Kenneth Boulding "Let me issue and control a Nation's money and I care not who makes its laws." - Mayer Anshelm Rothschild In any normal social system you care to examine, the gap between the poorest employee and the richest is about a factor of 20. This includes the Roman Empire, the Catholic Church, collegiate academia and the military. It's stable. It's what the human race points to. If the guy sweeping the floors makes $10k a year, the president should make about $200k a year. Not banking. I've held the belief since I was 14 that the abolition of the stock market would stabilize the fuck out of the world. Then I learned about the bond market and I realized it was hopeless.