I know Mr. Sowell leaves the Libertarian ranch now and again. But when he is on I just love the guy. His books on migration were a little tough to get through but I found them very interesting.
Hilarious that repealing the minimum wage is sold as something that will help the poor. Why not argue it's unfair to corporate America and shareholders? That's what this is really about. Hiring a lot of cheap workers to increase profits. Not a single person who opposes the minimum wage cares about unskilled laborers.
Jerry, on the other hand, cares deeply about unskilled workers, weeping about them every night. So much so that he recommends a policy that makes it more attractive for employers to hire skilled workers instead. (Which is why that policy -- by a funny coincidence! -- happens to be favored by skilled workers, who themselves do not earn the minimum wage but who gain when stupid suckers like Jerry advocate the minimum wage because their hearts just ache for the poor.)
I am interested in this concept of the "unskilled" worker...what is that? Is that someone who has absolutely nothing to offer? Why would anyone hire such a person, anyway? And, if the person has truly nothing to offer from the standpoint of "skill", what level of productivity could be expected of them? How much training would be needed to transform this person into a "skilled" worker who can achieve the level of productivity for an employer to make it worth their while to employ such a person? Finally, considering all of the above, what does such a person in that situation deserve to be paid?
Working somewhere is a contract between the laborer and the employer. If someone truly has very little or nothing to offer in their skill set, yet very much wants to work for an employer, the two parties should be allowed to come to an agreement regarding wages. Even if the amount per hour seems negligible, we all have to start somewhere. Through the experience of working, one begins to build more and more marketable skills to bring to the negotiating table, and can demand a higher wage to account for the greater productivity the employee can offer.
Therefore, advocating for a minimum wage is arguing for the prohibition of these mutually beneficial contracts which could have otherwise occurred in the labor market absent such meddling. The minimum wage retards the process of growth from an "unskilled" laborer into a "skilled" laborer, and locks out of the marketplace those who would be happy to work for less than minimum wage rather than have no job at all.
I know Mr. Sowell leaves the Libertarian ranch now and again. But when he is on I just love the guy. His books on migration were a little tough to get through but I found them very interesting.
ReplyDeleteHilarious that repealing the minimum wage is sold as something that will help the poor. Why not argue it's unfair to corporate America and shareholders? That's what this is really about. Hiring a lot of cheap workers to increase profits. Not a single person who opposes the minimum wage cares about unskilled laborers.
ReplyDeleteActually, its the other way around. Not a single person who favors the minimum wage cares about unskilled laborers.
DeleteTroll.
DeleteJerry, on the other hand, cares deeply about unskilled workers, weeping about them every night. So much so that he recommends a policy that makes it more attractive for employers to hire skilled workers instead. (Which is why that policy -- by a funny coincidence! -- happens to be favored by skilled workers, who themselves do not earn the minimum wage but who gain when stupid suckers like Jerry advocate the minimum wage because their hearts just ache for the poor.)
DeleteI am interested in this concept of the "unskilled" worker...what is that? Is that someone who has absolutely nothing to offer? Why would anyone hire such a person, anyway? And, if the person has truly nothing to offer from the standpoint of "skill", what level of productivity could be expected of them? How much training would be needed to transform this person into a "skilled" worker who can achieve the level of productivity for an employer to make it worth their while to employ such a person? Finally, considering all of the above, what does such a person in that situation deserve to be paid?
DeleteWorking somewhere is a contract between the laborer and the employer. If someone truly has very little or nothing to offer in their skill set, yet very much wants to work for an employer, the two parties should be allowed to come to an agreement regarding wages. Even if the amount per hour seems negligible, we all have to start somewhere. Through the experience of working, one begins to build more and more marketable skills to bring to the negotiating table, and can demand a higher wage to account for the greater productivity the employee can offer.
Therefore, advocating for a minimum wage is arguing for the prohibition of these mutually beneficial contracts which could have otherwise occurred in the labor market absent such meddling. The minimum wage retards the process of growth from an "unskilled" laborer into a "skilled" laborer, and locks out of the marketplace those who would be happy to work for less than minimum wage rather than have no job at all.
Minimum wage proponents should be subject to a maximum wage.
Delete.
That would probably clear their statist-addled thinking process.
Owned.
ReplyDeleteOn top of everything else, this woman obviously stole George Washington's wig!
ReplyDeleteThe Wolf can always be counted upon to splash his stupidity whenever too much coo on sense is on display at EPJ.
ReplyDeleteWhich is why he is a priceless member of the community. We even got an awesome Tom Woods retort thanks to him!
Delete