Capitalism, on the whole, is a great idea, but over the years it has been abused like a red-headed step child. I propose a new system, which I call LIMITED CAPITALISM , as the cure.  On another page of this Site, you saw what I propose to cut down the size and expenses of the government.  There are similar ways we can use to get the cost of living to a more manageable level.

    Company CEO's and other officials are in many instances making way too much money, and they have to be curbed.  The same holds true for movie and TV stars as well as professional athletes. In many cases, these people tend to be congregated together in certain geographical areas, such as New York City and Los Angeles, and because those people can afford to pay millions of dollars for real estate due to their over-inflated wages, the price of everything from a home to a loaf of bread is similarly ballooned.

   Implementation of the following guidelines for these overpaid people will help restore our economy: 

    1) As with government officials, no one in the so-called private sector will be allowed to make more than half of the President's salary.  "Extra" incentives and "performance bonuses" will be capped at $25,000 a year.  This will result in lower company expenses, which will translate into lower prices for a company's products.

    2) Sports figures will fall under the same salary rules but have the following modifications: Rookie salaries will be capped at $50,000, with increases for experience limited to $25,000 a year until the $200,000 limit is reached. "Performance bonuses" will fall under these guidelines: $10,000 for any achievement above normal salary, such as the Cy Young Award, batting title, Manager Of The Year, etc.  Only the two teams reaching the World Series will be entitled to extra bonuses, with the World Champs getting $25,000 per player and the Series losers getting $10,000 per player.  This same formula will apply TO ALL professional sports. 

RESULT: lower expenses for the teams will mean reduced ticket prices for the fans.  Monies earned by the teams above and beyond that needed for the maintenance of the team, such as salaries, advertising, rent, utilities, uniforms, etc. will be placed in a general fund to provide for retirement benefits for the players.  This will mean that pro athletes will be ineligible for government social security/retirement benefits but will instead be covered by the various leagues’ retirement funds.  Teams found in violation of these regulations will be expelled from professional sports.

    Movie/TV stars' and stage theatre actors' salaries will also be controlled, in this manner: 

    1) Maximum salary for any actor or director will be limited to $100,000 per film or TV series, with a maximum of (2) performances at that price per year.  TV actors, news show on-air talent, etc. may be paid in smaller installments per show, but if their salary reaches $200,000, they will NOT be allowed to be paid for any further work that year, although they may appear in non-salaried "cameos".  There will be NO performance bonuses paid, except for Oscar, Emmy, or Tony Awards, where the prize for winning a category will be capped at $25,000, with no person being allowed to win in more than one cash award per year.

    2) Studios will be allowed to pay for travel expenses and accommodations, but such costs must be figured into the film/series/play's budget and NOT paid to the actors.

    3) These same guidelines will apply to all movie/TV personnel

    4) Monies earned by ALL the studios above the cost of paying for rent, salaries, utilities, advertising, equipment costs, etc. will be placed in a "general fund" that will pay for the retirement benefits of actors, directors, and other studio production personnel, thereby eliminating those people from the government's social security rolls.  Studios/TV networks found to be in violation of this law will be permanently shut down.

    Musicians and music studio workers will be subject to these guidelines:

    1) Performers under contract to a particular studio will be paid by that studio a maximum of $200,000 per year.

Non-contract performers will be paid at the rate of $25,000 maximum per album/CD until the yearly maximum is reached.  Other studio personnel, such as technicians, will start at $25,000 yearly, with maximun yearly raises of $25,000 until the $200,000 limit is reached.

    2) The only bonuses will come from performance/sales, the Grammys or other music or video awards.  Category winners will be paid at the rate of $25,000, and may only win one cash award per year, even if they reach more than one category or performance/sales plateau.

    3) Monies earned by the studios in excess of those used to pay rent, salaries, advertising, utilities, equipment and production costs, will be placed in a "general fund" to pay for the retirement benefits of performers, producers, and record company employees.  These people, being covered by this plan, will also be ineligible for government social security benefits.  Studios found in violation of these rules will be shut down permanently.

    DOCTORS and LAWYERS also will be capped at $200,000 per year, but have the following conditions applied to their salary structure:

    1) In addition to their regular salary, these professionals will be allowed to have their hospital or law firm pay them up to an additional $50,000 per year for malpractice insurance protection.  This extra amount will NOT be payable if there were no suits against them during the previous year.

    2) Those in private practice will be allowed to keep on charging for their services until the $200,000 plus insurance protection amount is earned.  They will also be allowed to add a maximum of $10,000 a year for medical supplies or research fees. 

This money is in addition to that needed to pay their office staff.  

    IN ADDITION, lawsuits will be capped at $200,000 (no more "pain and suffering" will be allowed), and no person or family will be allowed to file more than one suit per year.  Doing this will control our runaway economy so that everyone will have an equal chance to see athletes or entertainers perform, as well as keeping down inflation costs and limiting "frivolous" lawsuits. 

      Another trickle-down effect will be affordability of housing everywhere.  Please go to the next page to find out how by clicking on the icon below: