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Justice · Lecture 15 of 19 · 4:15

BBC: Fair Pay?

Study guide

What this lecture covers

This short excerpt from the BBC program "Fairness and the Big Society" takes Sandel's classroom method to a London studio audience. He poses a concrete pay-differential question, whether it's fair that a star footballer earns vastly more than a care worker, and lets audience members argue both sides. The clip works as a compact companion to the Harvard lectures' discussions of merit, desert and the market's role in distributive justice.

After watching, you should be able to state the main arguments offered for and against Wayne Rooney's high pay, and connect them to the broader question of whether market outcomes track fairness or social value.

Key ideas

Scarcity and demand: one argument holds that Rooney deserves his pay because very few people can perform at his level and many are willing to pay to watch him.
Supply and demand vs. fairness: an audience member challenges whether market outcomes, which reflect supply and demand, are the same thing as what is fair.
Social value vs. pleasure: another argument holds that care workers contribute something more essential to people's lives, care, than the pleasure Rooney's performances provide, raising the question of how to weigh different kinds of contribution.
Equal opportunity as a condition of fairness: one speaker suggests that large pay gaps might only be fair if everyone had an genuinely equal chance in life to begin with.

Before you watch

This clip pairs well with the Harvard lectures on Rawls and the difference principle, which cover the same kind of pay-differential question, such as the David Letterman and schoolteacher comparison, in more depth.

Check your understanding

What reasons does the audience give for thinking Rooney's high pay is fair?
What reasons are given for thinking it's unfair?
Why does one speaker question whether the law of supply and demand determines what's fair?

Vocabulary

pay differential (noun): A difference in how much different people are paid.
The debate is about the pay differential between footballers and care workers.
scarcity (noun): A situation where something is in short supply.
Rooney's talent is valuable partly because of its scarcity.
supply and demand (noun): The economic relationship between how much of something is available and how much people want it.
His high pay reflects simple supply and demand.
market outcome (noun): The result produced by buyers and sellers freely trading.
The audience debates whether market outcomes are fair.
social value (noun): The benefit or importance something provides to society.
Care work has high social value even without high pay.
contribution (noun): Something given or added that helps achieve a result.
The debate weighs different kinds of contribution to society.
equal opportunity (noun): The idea that everyone should have the same chance to succeed.
A speaker argues pay gaps are fair only with equal opportunity.
studio audience (noun): A group of people present in a television studio during a recording.
The debate took place in front of a London studio audience.
fairness (noun): The quality of treating people equally and reasonably.
The clip questions whether Rooney's pay is a matter of fairness.
care worker (noun): A person whose job is to look after people who need help, such as the sick or elderly.
A care worker earns far less than a top footballer.
compact (adjective): Small and taking up little space or time.
The clip is a compact companion to the longer lectures.
companion (piece) (noun): Something designed to go together with, or complement, another thing.
This clip works as a companion to the Harvard lectures.
afford (verb): To have enough money to pay for something.
Many fans can afford to pay to watch top footballers play.
challenge (verb) (verb): To question whether something is true or correct.
An audience member challenges whether the market outcome is fair.
essential (adjective): Absolutely necessary or extremely important.
Care work is essential to people's daily lives.
vastly (adverb): By a very large amount.
A footballer can earn vastly more than a care worker.
track (verb) (verb): To follow or correspond closely to something.
The debate asks whether pay tracks a person's true social value.
talent (noun): A natural ability or skill.
Rooney's rare talent is part of why fans pay to watch him.
worthwhile (adjective): Deserving time, money, or effort because of its value.
Some argue care work is more worthwhile than entertainment.
pose (a question) (verb): To ask or present a question for consideration.
Sandel poses a concrete pay-differential question to the audience.

From the YouTube description

To register for the 2015 course, visit https://www.edx.org/course/justice-harvardx-er22-1x-0.

Should celebrities and sports stars be paid more than service workers? Is fair pay determined by supply and demand? In this excerpt from the BBC program "Fairness and the Big Society," Sandel uses the pay of a famous soccer star to explore the meaning of fairness with a London studio audience.

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