John Stossel tackles the so-called "wage gap" between men and women. On average, women earn only 75 cents for every dollar than men earn.

Martha Burk, chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations, gave me this simple answer: "Because [men] like to hire men, John. They like to hire people like themselves and they darn sure like to promote people like themselves." In other words, men so love their fellow men that they are willing to pay a premium of, say, $10,000 on what would otherwise be a $30,000-a-year job, just for the sheer pleasure of employing a man. Nonsense. It's market competition that sets wages.

Men do care about money -- and that, not wage discrimination, is why men tend to make more of it.

"Women themselves say they're far more likely to care about flexibility," says author Warren Farrell. "Men say, I'm far more likely to care about money."

Martha Burk, in case you don't remember, made her mark on the women's movement by insisting that Augusta National Golf Club allow women to join. Just like she was wrong on that issue, she's wrong on this one. Men are far more likely to work longer hours, give up family comittments, and work in dangerous jobs. Women on the other hand are more likely to put family ahead of their career. They are also much less likely to give up their career to have babies.

Now, that men care more about earning money isn't really news. But what Stossel doesn't mention is that women should also share the blame for men's money grubbing attitudes. Aside from the obvious nesters vs. gatherers differences, men are predisposed to try to make more money simply to attract and please women. Women generally don't go for men who are broke all the time, and guys with lots of cash are much more likely to get the girl. (I'm speaking in generalities, so please girls don't yell at me saying you're not like that.)

In the immortal words of George Costanza, "bald men, with no jobs, and no money, who live with their parents, don't approach strange women".