How is it that companies need to pay multi-million dollar salaries to attract CEOs, but we expect to get excellent judges when their pay is frozen? See "With Salary Freeze, More New York Judges Are Leaving the Bench", William Glaberson, New York Times, 2011-07-04.
Many judges are earning one-tenth what they could earn in private practice. Although I don't have much sympathy for the hard times of one earning a six-figure salary, I wonder about the wisdom of keeping pay "low" for judges. There comes a point where the prestige of being a judge is less attractive than a much higher salary in private practice.
I think it is part of the growing myth that all government employees are worthless do-nothings. If that myth goes too far, we really will have a government of worthless do-nothings. You get what you pay for.
