nor in this country nothing to stop even national
>museums deliberately recruiting people wildly over-qualified in relation
>to the salary grade fixed in advance for the vacancy.

Not in this country either, Patrick.  I decided a long time ago not to enter
the federal or state museum system for this very reason.  Sorry, Smithsonian
people.

 pay has to be cut to increase incentives for the lowest
>paid (to make them work harder) but increased markedly to increase
>incentives for the top management and professional levels.

Wait a minute...the lowest paid get motivated by less money but the highest
paid get motivated by more money?  What's the logic behind this?  Is it that
the highest paid people need to be paid FIRST in order to get them to work
harder to live up to their salary level, but the lowest paid people have to
work hard before they get paid?  Why are the lowest paid people
underestimated in this manner?  I had heard some terrible things about the
rigidity of your class system but this is beyond me.

I agree that museum people (at least in the curatorial and programmatic
ranks, if not administration) are sadly overworked and underpaid anywhere in
the world.  But I also agree that we are not in it for the money, and if
that makes me a sucker, so be it.

Julia Moore
Indianapolis Art Center
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