Vast disparities in income may have lost some of their power to shock. But they remain a gross injustice
Public anger about the vast salaries extracted from business by the highest-paid people surfaces less often than one might expect, given highly conspicuous levels of inequality and rising poverty. Sir Philip Green and Fred Goodwin are rare in having become notorious big earners: Sir Philip because of the collapse of BHS, as well as his own inflated rewards and oligarchic lifestyle; Mr Goodwin because he exemplified a greedy banker type at a time when anger at banks was at its peak.
More recently, a colossal £75m bonus paid to the chief executive of the housebuilder Persimmon, Jeff Fairburn, resulted in his departure from the business. But Mr Fairburn – who was reported earlier this year to have failed to keep a promise to set up a charity – did not become a household name.