On Wednesday 19 October 2011, 0:28 SGT
, You may think that those wishing to suffer extreme public scrutiny while making decisions that affect millions of citizens would demand the big bucks, but when it comes to pay, many world leaders look like chumps compared to the CEOs of many corporations. While most salaries pale in comparison to the likes of Warren Buffett's, some are downright huge when compared to the people a leader may govern.
Top 10 Political Leader's Salary by Country (2010):
1. Lee Hsien Loong (Singapore): $2,183,516
2. Donald Tsang (Hong Kong): $513,245
3. Raila Odinga (Kenya): $427,886
4. Barack Obama (United States): $400,000
5. Nicolas Sarkozy (France): $302,435
6. Stephen Harper (Canada): $296,400
7. Mary McAleese (Ireland): $287,900
8. Julia Gillard (Australia): $286,752
9. Angela Merkel (Germany): $283,608
10. Yoshihiko Noda (Japan): $273,676
Salary Compared to GDP
What makes a world leader's pay reasonable or outlandish? One way of making this call is by looking at pay compared to a country's GDP per person at purchasing power parity (PPP). Using PPP helps make a better estimate of just how far money goes in a country, since the cost of living will vary from country to country. Comparing each leader's salary (in international dollars) to the IMF's 2010 PPP figures shows how much more a world leader makes compared to an average joe at home.
1. Raila Odinga (Kenya): 255.30
2. Lee Hsien Loong (Singapore): 38.51
3. Donald Tsang (Hong Kong): 11.17
4. Nicolas Sarkozy (France): 8.92
5. Barack Obama (United States): 8.54
6. Yoshihiko Noda (Japan): 8.08
7. Angela Merkel (Germany): 7.86
8. Stephen Harper (Canada): 7.57
9. Mary McAleese (Ireland): 7.29
10. Julia Gillard (Australia): 7.21
What do these numbers mean? Looking at GDP per person doesn't show how a country stacks up in terms of income inequality, a statistic that can measured using the Gini coefficient. Ranking the leaders by their country's income inequality can really show how far out of touch a leader is with those governed. The Gini coefficient changes things up (zero means perfect equality and one perfect inequality).
1. Donald Tsang (Hong Kong): 0.434
2. Raila Odinga (Kenya): 0.425
3. Lee Hsien Loong (Singapore): 0.425
4. Barack Obama (United States): 0.408
5. Julia Gillard (Australia): 0.352
6. Mary McAleese (Ireland): 0.343
7. Nicolas Sarkozy (France): 0.327
8. Stephen Harper (Canada): 0.326
9. Angela Merkel (Germany): 0.283
10. Yoshihiko Noda (Japan): 0.249
Base Salary Vs. Perks
When it comes to what a leader is really paid, a distinction must be made between base salary and additional stipends. Leaders may receive free residences or residential stipends, free healthcare, free travel and other perks. They may be permitted expenses that most people would have to pay for out of pocket. Those figures are more difficult to come by, especially in the murky world of political influence.
Less scrupulous world leaders may pad their own bank accounts with their own country's money through corruption. "Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)," first released in 1995, tracks corruption trends in 178 countries. It assigns a rank of 10 to countries deemed clean, and zero to countries considered highly corrupt. Ranking the leaders by how corrupt their countries are, the ranking shifts to the following:
1. Raila Odinga (Kenya): 2.1
2. Nicolas Sarkozy (France): 6.8
3. Barack Obama (United States): 7.1
4. Yoshihiko Noda (Japan): 7.8
5. Angela Merkel (Germany): 7.9
6. Mary McAleese (Ireland): 8
7. Donald Tsang (Hong Kong): 8.4
8. Julia Gillard (Australia): 8.7
9. Stephen Harper (Canada): 8.9
10. Lee Hsien Loong (Singapore): 9.3
Of these countries, only three would not be considered "full democracies" by the "Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index:" Kenya, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The Bottom Line
What do all of these numbers tell us? Leaders of advanced economies earn very similar salaries to each other, and those countries tend to be less corrupt and more democratic. While Lee Hsien Loong may earn 38 times the average resident of Singapore, his country is considered a good place to do business even if it is not fully democratic. On the other end of the spectrum, Raila Odinga earns an incredible amount more than the people he governs, and presides over a country that Transparency International would consider one of the most corrupt around (ranked 154 out of 178 countries).
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408 comments
- 0 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 0 users disliked this commentA Yahoo! User Report Abuse
Top 10 Political Leader's Salary > 1. Lee Hsien Loong (Singapore): $2,183,516
Reply
BUT
Corruption Rank (CPI) > 10. Lee Hsien Loong (Singapore): 9.3
= SUPER RICH & CORRUPTED!!
now u know where our income tax go to.. - 0 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 0 users disliked this commentA Yahoo! User Report Abuse
Why go down in History as the HIGHEST-PAID government leader?.... and nothing else?
Reply - 0 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 0 users disliked this commentPG Report Abuse
Hahaha... no wonder he can smile...
Reply - 0 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 0 users disliked this commentA Yahoo! User Report Abuse
So the ranking says LHL is as far out of touch as Kenya's Raila Odinga.
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And if the list is based on highest paid politicians (instead of government leaders), our entire Cabinet will be up there? Clap clap. - 0 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 0 users disliked this commentGlenn Report Abuse
Justice Bao is waiting to pass judgement to these so call 'leaders' in the netherworld.
Reply - 0 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 0 users disliked this commentRascal Report Abuse
Wow, look at the smile!!!
Reply - 0 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 0 users disliked this commentMd. Report Abuse
Where the people still working $3 / $4 per hour & the minister getting the top most salary in the world!!! A tiny country hopefully leader also tiny but salary is huge. Good idea & good practice ………….
Reply - 0 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 0 users disliked this commentJimmy Lee Report Abuse
i really admire them. big salary plus all the trappings. how many in this world are born like that, whilst the vast majority of their people are struggling day to day month to month with rising cost of livings, all due to no1 here and no 1 there, hub here and hub there. really the world most lucky vip, with due respect.
Reply - 0 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 0 users disliked this commentThor Report Abuse
@#$% ...this joker is talking C@#$. 1000 scenario, comparison or reasons also cannot justify such high salary. Look at the great divide ......Ppl on welfare ... get $250 and Minister Millions. I tell u where the Ministers salary comes from. Those assholes (ministers, scholars and A star ppl) huddle together in air conditioned office brainstorming not to help us but come up with COE, ERP and BTO and DBSS. and many more to leech us . Government coffers are filled to the brim and they reward themselves, PR and FT but not the Citizen like u and me.
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Other world leaders dare not emulate because some got principles others fear they will be voted out. But in Singapore , our citizen have no B@%^ . That how MIW survived every 5 years. We the ppl of Singapore have the power to stop this madness and disparity. JUST DO IT comes 2016 and show to the world that we have BALLS - 1 users liked this comment Please sign in to rate this comment up. Please sign in to rate this comment down. 0 users disliked this commentKongkong Report Abuse
Years ago, we also have the highest paid pastor in Spore, S$500,000.
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Never disclose pay to own church people until came out in the papers, front page.
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