Re: Position Statement to the Dunc-Tanc "experiment"
Joerg Jaspert wrote:
> - During the discussion before the experiment it was said that the
> living costs of the release managers are to be paid. Additionally it
> was said that it is "providing a reasonable amount of money to cover
> living expenses" and later on, that this is "below the average" they
> could get elsewhere. However, the official donation site[1]
> mentions US$ 6000.00 for each release manager. We do consider this to
> be neither just "living costs" nor "below average", not even by
> applying common taxes and insurances one has to pay. On what grounds
> has this amount been calculated?
>
> [1] https://www.pubsoft.org/pubsoft.py/project?proj=Dunc-Tank-etch-rm
Hi all,
I agree, this is not "below average" or otherwise. Average is calculated
on a GDP per capita. For US [1][2], that is (in millions)
$13,469,000/300 => $44896 per capita => $3741.39/month per person. This
is roughly in agreement with government statistics [3], and I quote,
"Real median household income remained unchanged between 2002 and 2003
in three of the four census regions — Northeast ($46,742), Midwest
($44,732) and West ($46,820). The exception was the South, where income
declined 1.5 percent. The South continued to have the lowest median
household income of all four regions ($39,823)"
True, one has to adjust for inflation, but inflation in the US is < 2%
so the numbers are relatively correct. I think the mean is something
about $50k now so ~$4000/mo/person in the *rich* areas.
Thus at $6000 and assuming my calculation is correct, this is 60% more
than the average salary in the US hence not "below average" or just
"living costs". Speaking naively (since the average doesn't follow the
standard distribution, but let's assume it does), 50% of the people live
in the US on *less* than $3741/mo/person.
Now, my numbers may be wrong a little bit, although in the ballpark and
they do agree with the notion that $6000/mo/person is 'neither just
"living costs" nor "below average"'.
Yes, I know that wages depend on location. And they do fluctuate from
place to place, but the mean wage is about the same within +-10k. Yes,
even in NY $72000/year is more than just getting by or below average.
- Adam
PS. To myself, the experiment has failed as more than a few DDs are not
happy with it and some have quit. There is *no way* that one or two
people, paid or not, can replace that manpower. Therefore the experiment
has failed as it will result in less work per unit time being done.
ref:
[1] - http://www.forecasts.org/gdp.htm for Nov 2006.
[2] - population at 300 million (see all recent news, etc..)
[3] -
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/002484.html
[4] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Beta_distribution_pdf.png
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