Today In The Winner-Take-All Economy
By CUNY, which pays its adjuncts (at least if they have actual expertise in the subjects they teach and aren’t random famous people) below-subsistence wages, recently hired a new chancellor. His base salary is $670,000. However, as Paul has observed one characteristic of the New Gilded Age is that the people who make obscenely high salaries shouldn’t be expected to pay for the stuff that for ordinary people consumes most of one’s income. And so:
When CUNY’s new chancellor opens the door to his $18,000/month apartment, 3,000 square feet will be sprawled out before him. Four bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths, a formal dining room and a terrace are his for the taking. We’re not sure what it feels like to live in the lap of luxury free of charge, but it probably feels pretty darn good.
But not everyone is so thrilled with Chancellor James Milliken’s new digs.
While he’s enjoying his rent-free Upper East Side pad, the university system is slapping students’ hands away when they ask for money to do silly, frivolous things, like go on an academic field trip.