[quote=davelj][quote=CA renter]Wealth and hard work/productivity are not directly correlated, IMHO.[/quote]
I will agree that they are not PERFECTLY correlated. I might also agree that they are not DIRECTLY correlated (or is that a distinction without a difference?). However, will you at least acknowledge that in a large population wealth and hard work/productivity are GENERALLY correlated? That is if you were to run a regression of hard work/productivity units (independent variable) versus wealth units (dependent variable), the resulting R-squared would be at least 60% or so? (Such that wealth is in a meaningfully positive manner a function of hard work/productivity.)
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of Taleb and believe that most successful folks underestimate the role of luck in their success… but I do believe that there’s a significant positive correlation between wealth and hard work/productivity. Although certainly not nearly as positive as most would like.[/quote]
If you work two jobs (as I have done) you will have less free time but definitely make more money. So there’s a correlation right there.
I previously posted a link about correlation of education level with income. So that would be another example where the “work” to get the degree(s) ultimately resulted in a reward.
Say you become an Anesthesiologist. Lot of work right? What is it, 8 years *after* undergrad? More? Those folks make over 300k I believe. Perhaps they deserve it.
What about a musician, say Dave Matthews? Did he work hard to get where he is? Was it connections, or was it talent and/or hard work?
How about the google guys? Was it their “connections”, or was it that they had a clever idea and took the effort to implement a prototype and took some risks and made smart decisions about how to start up their company? How many folks do they employ now?
Perhaps even for the financial weenies it’s not that easy. I don’t actually know. Perhaps some of them actually do work hard, does anyone know?
