Star performers

Having read Maureen Dowd's recent hack at Goldman Sachs ("Doing God's Work!?!" Nov. 12), I offer a defense of the freedom to pay stellar pay to star performers, in a Pittsburgh context. Ben Roethlisberger makes just over $10 million a year, all things considered. Isn't that too much? Shouldn't the Rooney organization trim these excesses?

No, that way likes mediocrity, that's the road to uncompetitiveness -- just look at the Pirates.

You may object that, if every organization follows the same rules, you can still trim excesses. For a counter-example, look at Major League Soccer. There, every team has strict pay scales to adhere to; no MLS player makes even $1 million. (Beckham and Pele were some of the few special cases.) So, where do the best American soccer players play? Europe, where no such rules exist.

If you want to see the best soccer leagues in the world, you'd go to London or Frankfurt or Madrid. It would be a shame if the same were to be said about investment banks.

 

DAVID FITZSIMMONS
East McKeesport