{"id":11939,"date":"2016-08-08T12:53:22","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T16:53:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/?p=11939"},"modified":"2016-08-08T12:53:22","modified_gmt":"2016-08-08T16:53:22","slug":"earn-400-per-hour-in-a-government-regulated-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/08\/earn-400-per-hour-in-a-government-regulated-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Earn $400 per hour in a government-regulated job"},"content":{"rendered":"

“World’s largest Viking ship, headed to Duluth, needs to pay $400K or turn around”<\/a>\u00a0has some good career tips for young Americans:<\/p>\n

Red tape, bureaucracy and an unexpected $400,000 bill threaten to doom the Draken Harald H\u00e5rfagre\u2019s visit to America.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t the reception that the world\u2019s largest Viking ship was expecting after leaving Norway in April to cross the Atlantic and head as far west as Duluth, just in time for Tall Ships Duluth 2016, where it\u2019s one of the event\u2019s marquee attractions.<\/p>\n

Without $400,000 to pay for a pilot to guide it through the Great Lakes, the Draken will head home to Norway and miss a series of cities eagerly awaiting its visit through the Great Lakes.<\/p>\n

The Draken set sail in April and was under the impression that it would not need a pilot to sail the Great Lakes because it was less than 35 meters long. The Draken is 34.5 meters (115 feet). However, that ruling applied only to its passage through Canadian waters. Once the ship left Snell Lock west of Montreal, it entered international waters, which are under jurisdiction of the U.S. Coast Guard, which requires pilots. That is when the Draken was informed it had to have a pilot, which can cost up to $400 per hour.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The pilot guild<\/a> explains how it works:<\/p>\n

The Office of Great Lakes Pilotage, U.S.C.G., determines the number of pilots required for each U.S. Great Lakes district. … Permanent positions become available as pilots retire and when the Office of Great Lakes Pilotage determines an increase in the number of pilots is required.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I.e., the government decides how many Americans will be allowed to work at this job.\u00a0federalregister.gov<\/a>\u00a0has a guide to the U.S. Coast Guard’s 2016 process:<\/p>\n

Step 4 sets each pilot’s target compensation at $326,114, with a total target compensation of $12,066,225 for the 37 pilots. We set these targets after identifying 2013 Canadian Great Lakes Pilotage Authority (GLPA) compensation, with adjustments for currency exchange and inflation, as the best benchmark for our 2016 rates.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Plainly not every young American\u00a0can expect to earn $400\/hour or $326,114 per year, but to me this is a good example of the superiority of government or government-regulated careers compared to careers in private enterprise.<\/p>\n

Related:<\/p>\n