John Stossel's been farting or talking again--I can't tell the difference

[Orrex]

Lately he's spent a lot of time repeating his newly discovered "proof" that the "myth" of income inequality is a lie.

According to Stossel, if men really earned more than equally qualified/capable women, then corporations would hire only women, because they would automatically shave 16% or more off their payroll expenses.

This sounds like obvious bullshit to me, but I can't think of a good way to refute it.

Any thoughts?

[benddem]

1. because

corporations are male dominated hierarchies. They wouldn't give up their bastions to a bunch of women.
Besides women are paid less....no matter what Stossel says...cause men make the rules.

[EVDebs]

2. Women are better marksmen (Annie Oakley for example) but Army

is mainly made up of men. Go figure.

It's the same logic (if that's what you want to call it). Currently, most colleges have majorities of women enrolled. What gives ?

[DarienComp]

3. John Stossel: a walking logical fallacy

the reason women are paid less then men is that corporations believe the myth that women are inferior to men when it comes to intellect and/or business acumen. Accepting that premise, does it make sense for a corporation's entire personel to be made up of fleighty, emotional women who can't do math, to save a measily 16% off their payroll expenses?

[Vinnie From Indy]

4. His logic is typically flawed

Using his logic a corporation could fire all it's workers and save 100% on their payroll.

Last year after Katrina he was running around saying it was GOOD for merchants to price gouge on essentials like bottled water. His rationale was that if a $2.00 was sold at $50. immediately after the disaster, people would not hoard the water. That makes sense only if the people that want the water and have no money wouldn't get violent and take the water by force. They would get violent and they would take the water to save their families if it they had to.

Stossel is a moron and that slap down given to him years ago by some wrestler has only made him worse. In short, he is a dumbass.

[Orrex]

5. Thanks for the replies

Stossel has struck me as a nearly complete asshole for several years. His smug "Oh come on now" attitude while dispensing his boundless wisdom has always made me queasy, and every time he backs some libertarian cause du jour, it simply reaffirms my rejection of that cause.

His post-Katrina bit about the virtue of price-gouging exposed him as a typically greedy "pay me, then it's every man for himself" jerk.

[BrklynLiberal]

6. The man is a total schmuck. That is a known fact. Al Franken exposed his

stupidity, live, on the air, about a year ago.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

7. What proof?

If it has been verifiably established (and I don't know what the actual stats are but for the sake of argument) that women *do* make that much less than men in comparable positions, then he has not disproven a thing. Disproving it would be if he could demonstrate that women actually *are* making the same but that previous measures were incorrect. Or, more likely, he is suggesting that women make less because of our innate inferiority or some other bullshit about our less aggressive "natures".

What a dick. I can't stand him. You know who I really feel sorry for? His wife, if he has one. Can you imagine living with such a smug know-it-all asshole? Blecch...

[Kipling]

8. The reason that women earn less is because they are pushed into worse jobs

Not because they are actually paid less for the same jobs. Women are encouraged to be cleaners, nurses, etc from an early age. Stoffel is talking rubbish.