A recent poll showed that a large majority of British voters think City bonuses are too big. The poll then asked what should be done. There was no general agreement on that. Some people felt the bonuses should be shared with others either through taxation or through gifts to charity. Others favoured a cap on them.

??If you impose a cap on bonuses in a profitable business, then the business will earn more profit. You transfer the extra money from the person doing the work to earn it, to the person who owns the business. He is usually richer than the people earning the money, so it is difficult to see how this helps.

If you impose a supertax on people earning over a certain amount, you will encourage many of these businesses to go somewhere else where the tax rates are lower. They are all international and footloose. They do not have to stay in the UK. Then the UK will be worse off, as the tax they pay will go elsewhere. The private equity bidders can still bid for UK businesses from abroad.

Giving more to charity is a good idea. I expect some??of the bonus earners will do just that. There is a very strong tradition of charitable giving in the US where mega bonuses have been common for many years. You can see it in the much better endowments enjoyed by American Universities.

What is curious is the fascination with the injustice of these newly arrived private equity bonuses. Why isn’t there the same fascination with the injustices of footballers remuneration? Or with the huge sums paid to people on the BBC whose fame rests?? on the fact that they have appeared on the BBC? Or with the mega bucks paid to stars of the large screen or the recording studios?

In a global market business people, singers, actors and sports stars can attract large paying audiences who will reward them generously. I would rather have some of these talented people here in the UK, paying some tax, than see them all operating abroad and paying us no tax.

There is a case to be made to limit how much a state monopoly like the BBC pays to artists appearing on its channels, as we are paying a tax for the pleasure and these artists can appear for big money on channels where we have choosen?? to contribute to their remuneration by paying for the TV we watch. You could also make a case for limiting the numbers of mega rich overseas footballers any English club can play in its team, to give local talent more of a chance to develop and give the English soccer team a better talent pool to draw from. That is a matter for the FA to decide how best to draw up the rules of its game. There is no case to be made to impose a supertax on venture capitalists, anymore than we should impose a supertax on footballers.Nor should we impose a supertax on????BBC performers, although it is sorely tempting given the amount of airtime they give to people who want higher taxes and more public spending and the little time they give to those of us who want less.

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