--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't think there is any serious…" description: "\"I don't think there is any serious evidence that we need to be paying people more than 100 times the average wage in order to get high-performing manag..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/674/thomas-piketty-3584_average_i-don-t-think-there-is-any-serious-evide_2338030.png" --- # I don't think there is any serious evidence that we need… ![“I don't think there is any serious evidence that we need to be paying people more than 100 times the average wage in order to get high-performing managers.” quote by Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/674/thomas-piketty-3584_average_i-don-t-think-there-is-any-serious-evide_2338030.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/674/thomas-piketty-3584_average_i-don-t-think-there-is-any-serious-evide_2338030.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/674/thomas-piketty-3584_average_i-don-t-think-there-is-any-serious-evide_2338030.png) > “I don't think there is any serious evidence that we need to be paying people more than 100 times the average wage in order to get high-performing managers.” [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. High pay isn’t the sole driver of managerial performance; other factors matter more. **In simple terms:** Money isn’t everything for managers. Key Takeaway Focus on motivation and culture. Themes economics management inequality Mood analytical critical Type economic policy When to use this quote - corporate hiring - policy making - salary negotiations Key Concepts human capital incentive theory Questions to Reflect On - Are high salaries always ineffective? - What non‑monetary incentives work best? A Different Perspective It may overlook industry‑specific pay dynamics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Management](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/management/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Wage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wage/) ## Related quotes > [“In 1860, the average price of a male slave of prime working age was roughly $2,000, whereas the average wage of a free farm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/in-1860-the-average-price-of-a-male-slave-of-prime-working-age-was/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [Paying people a fair wage is a sign of respect and acknowledgement of the value of people's contributions to the business. When people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-b-lyman/paying-people-a-fair-wage-is-a-sign-of-respect-and-acknowledgement-of/) Amy B. Lyman > [“With the two sides entrenched, each began a campaign for public sympathy. The focus was wages. How much did Lawrence textile workers really earn?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-watson/with-the-two-sides-entrenched-each-began-a-campaign-for-public/) [Bruce Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-watson/) > [“​The average wage in Australia is $78 832, according to the ABS. If you plug that into globalrichlist.com it shows that you're in the top…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-pape/the-average-wage-in-australia-is-78-832-according-to-the-abs-if-you/) [Scott Pape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-pape/) > [What the welfare system and other kinds of governmental programs are doing is paying people to fail. In so far as they fail, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/what-the-welfare-system-and-other-kinds-of-governmental-programs-are/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [People who have been hardworking, tax paying, those people ought to be given an opportunity to be on a track that leads towards citizenship,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/people-who-have-been-hardworking-tax-paying-those-people-ought-to-be/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [“How does paying people more money make you more money? It works like this. The more you pay your workers, the more they spend.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moore/how-does-paying-people-more-money-make-you-more-money-it-works-like/) [Michael Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moore/) > [I don't mind paying people more for something if we're getting more. But just to change a deal because you're greedy and you want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-mcmahon/i-don-t-mind-paying-people-more-for-something-if-we-re-getting-more/) [Vince McMahon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vince-mcmahon/) > [I love paying people to touch me. Nail techs, hair stylists, dermatologists, make-up artists, osteopaths: you name it, I love it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-ryan/i-love-paying-people-to-touch-me-nail-techs-hair-stylists/) [Katherine Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-ryan/) > [Bob Goodenow will kill me, but if we're going to be realistic about things, probably 75 per cent of the league is overpaid. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brett-hull/bob-goodenow-will-kill-me-but-if-we-re-going-to-be-realistic-about/) [Brett Hull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brett-hull/) > [There's something fundamentally grubby about the rich paying people to seek out cracks in the system to hide their money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-rinder/there-s-something-fundamentally-grubby-about-the-rich-paying-people/) [Robert Rinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-rinder/) > [When you start paying people to be poor, you wind up with an awful lot of poor people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/when-you-start-paying-people-to-be-poor-you-wind-up-with-an-awful-lot/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [Sick leave should be used to cover the costs of paying people who work in the public service who are sick, and that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-poilievre/sick-leave-should-be-used-to-cover-the-costs-of-paying-people-who/) [Pierre Poilievre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-poilievre/) > [Unselfishness is more paying, only people have not the patience to practice it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/unselfishness-is-more-paying-only-people-have-not-the-patience-to/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [But I think what we're coming to grips with is the fact that we actually have a mercenary Army, and it doesn't have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-clift/but-i-think-what-we-re-coming-to-grips-with-is-the-fact-that-we/) [Eleanor Clift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-clift/) ## More by Thomas Piketty > [It's not Utopian to believe that we can create a global registry of financial assets so we know who owns what in different countries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/it-s-not-utopian-to-believe-that-we-can-create-a-global-registry-of/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [“US inequality in 2010 is quantitatively as extreme as in old Europe in the first decade of the twentieth century, but the structure of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/us-inequality-in-2010-is-quantitatively-as-extreme-as-in-old-europe/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [Indeed, the distribution of wealth is too important an issue to be left to economists, sociologists, historians, and philosophers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/indeed-the-distribution-of-wealth-is-too-important-an-issue-to-be/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [The United States could transform its property tax system into a progressive tax on net worth without asking permission to the rest of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/the-united-states-could-transform-its-property-tax-system-into-a/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [“When it comes to decreasing inequalities of wealth for good or reducing unusually high levels of public debt, a progressive tax on capital is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/when-it-comes-to-decreasing-inequalities-of-wealth-for-good-or/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [“In other words, low growth cannot adequately counterbalance the Marxist principle of infinite accumulation: the resulting equilibrium is not as apocalyptic as the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/in-other-words-low-growth-cannot-adequately-counterbalance-the/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [“I belong to a generation that came of age listening to news of the collapse of the Communist dicatorships and never felt the slightest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/i-belong-to-a-generation-that-came-of-age-listening-to-news-of-the/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [When you are an entrepreneur, you have founded your own firm, it is so easy to find that you exist - you are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/when-you-are-an-entrepreneur-you-have-founded-your-own-firm-it-is-so/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [There is one great advantage to being an academic economist in France: here, economists are not highly respected in the academic and intellectual world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/there-is-one-great-advantage-to-being-an-academic-economist-in-france/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [Without precisely defined sources, methods, and concepts, it is possible to see absolutely everything and its opposite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/without-precisely-defined-sources-methods-and-concepts-it-is-possible/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [“the population of the world grew at an average annual rate of barely 0.8 percent between 1700 and 2012.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/the-population-of-the-world-grew-at-an-average-annual-rate-of-barely/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [I'm not as pessimistic as what a number of people seem to believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/i-m-not-as-pessimistic-as-what-a-number-of-people-seem-to-believe/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [“The sharp reduction in income inequality that we observe in almost all the rich countries between 1914 and 1945 was due above all to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/the-sharp-reduction-in-income-inequality-that-we-observe-in-almost/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [“Progress in medicine together with improved living conditions has therefore, it is argued, totally transformed the very essence of capital.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/progress-in-medicine-together-with-improved-living-conditions-has/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) > [“the decrease in the top marginal income tax rate led to an explosion of very high incomes, which then increased the political influence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/the-decrease-in-the-top-marginal-income-tax-rate-led-to-an-explosion/) [Thomas Piketty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) [Explore all 124 Thomas Piketty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/) ## More Average quotes > [I genuinely did not expect more than half our nation to choose to walk away from our long-term allies into the arms of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-reade/i-genuinely-did-not-expect-more-than-half-our-nation-to-choose-to/) Brian Reade > [There were times last year when people looked at the scoreboard and thought my batting average was the temperature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buck-martinez/there-were-times-last-year-when-people-looked-at-the-scoreboard-and/) Buck Martinez > [The average condition of the people improving or deteriorating, depends upon whether population is advancing faster than improvement, or improvement than population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-average-condition-of-the-people-improving-or-deteriorating/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [In comparative terms, there's no poverty in America by a long shot. Heritage Foundation political scientist Robert Rector has worked up figures showing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/in-comparative-terms-there-s-no-poverty-in-america-by-a-long-shot/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [The average well-being of our societies is not dependent any longer on national income and economic growth. ... But the differences between us and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-g-wilkinson/the-average-well-being-of-our-societies-is-not-dependent-any-longer/) [Richard G. Wilkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-g-wilkinson/) > [I really focus more to hit for average, just try to put the ball in play as much as I can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-soto/i-really-focus-more-to-hit-for-average-just-try-to-put-the-ball-in/) [Juan Soto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-soto/) > [You give me enough shots, I'll average 20. You give me a particular system where I stick close to the basket, I'll average 10 rebounds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-bosh/you-give-me-enough-shots-i-ll-average-20-you-give-me-a-particular/) [Chris Bosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-bosh/) > [The average ordinary citizen can do a lot of different things when it comes to the climate crisis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-bender/the-average-ordinary-citizen-can-do-a-lot-of-different-things-when-it/) [Lawrence Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-bender/) > [The average American expends more time becoming informed about choosing a car than choosing a candidate. But, then, the consequences of the former choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/the-average-american-expends-more-time-becoming-informed-about/) [George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/) > [My phone rings, they call me up and say, 'Chael, your testosterone level is too high.' I say, 'Well, how high was it?' They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chael-sonnen/my-phone-rings-they-call-me-up-and-say-chael-your-testosterone-level/) [Chael Sonnen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chael-sonnen/) > [In one century, we've added 28 years to our average life span - a change so rapid that our brains couldn't possibly have evolved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/in-one-century-we-ve-added-28-years-to-our-average-life-span-a-change/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) > [So-called Western Civilization, as practised in half of Europe, some of Asia and a few parts of North America, is better than anything else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/so-called-western-civilization-as-practised-in-half-of-europe-some-of/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [I feel like what motivates me is what would motivate the regular average person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rico-nasty/i-feel-like-what-motivates-me-is-what-would-motivate-the-regular/) [Rico Nasty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rico-nasty/) > [We're trying to do something so that when the average person uses Pinterest, it has to make the service better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-silbermann/we-re-trying-to-do-something-so-that-when-the-average-person-uses/) [Ben Silbermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-silbermann/) > [The extraordinary woman depends on the ordinary woman. It is only when we know what were the conditions of the average woman's life -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-extraordinary-woman-depends-on-the-ordinary-woman-it-is-only-when/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) Browse all 2,816 Average quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't think there is any serious evidence that we need to be paying people more than 100 times the average wage in order to get high-performing managers.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Piketty" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/i-don-t-think-there-is-any-serious-evidence-that-we-need-to-be-paying/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Average" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/i-don-t-think-there-is-any-serious-evidence-that-we-need-to-be-paying/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/674/thomas-piketty-3584_average_i-don-t-think-there-is-any-serious-evide_2338030.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/674/thomas-piketty-3584_average_i-don-t-think-there-is-any-serious-evide_2338030.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/674/thomas-piketty-3584_average_i-don-t-think-there-is-any-serious-evide_2338030.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don't think there is any serious evidence that we need to be paying people more than 100 times the average…” — Thomas Piketty", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Thomas Piketty", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-piketty/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I don't think there is any...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/i-don-t-think-there-is-any-serious-evidence-that-we-need-to-be-paying/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-piketty/i-don-t-think-there-is-any-serious-evidence-that-we-need-to-be-paying/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```