Trump Immigration Crackdown Leads to Higher Construction Wages

tsuke said:
the problem with capitalists is they love the free market until that free market dictates higher wages for labor.
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Ok Mr. Marx. You want wages to rise which is fine but there are trade offs that come with it.
 
Darth Omar said:
It is what it is.

We can't just keep doing what we've been doing on immigration. Besides, market shortages correct themselves eventually. Maybe we need to go back to teaching trades in high school to fill the vacuum. Carpenters and brick layers make decent money and that money will stay here if we hire US citizens to do it.
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If we want prices to rise and productivity to slow and we are willing to live with the results then that is a choice we make as a country.

What we need are more work visas so that people come here legally to work to fill certain needs. We refuse to update/change our immigration system so people come here illegally instead or we suffer growth slow downs as a result.
 
cawacko said:
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What we need are more work visas so that people come here legally to work to fill certain needs.
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You're a naïve fool who thinks everything will work as planned. Fact is any such system will be abused and the politicians will take their corporate bribes and let in millions of illiterate unskilled workers. We need to end all immigration.
 
Darth Omar said:
. Maybe we need to go back to teaching trades in high school to fill the vacuum. Carpenters and brick layers make decent money and that money will stay here if we hire US citizens to do it.
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Only technical subjects should be taught in schools. Physics, chemistry, IT and as you said, trades such as plumbing. No more entertainment courses - arts, literature, and athletics.
 
Celticguy said:
Not really. Min wage workers have no skills. The ones being referred to do have them.
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minimum wage workers do have skills. It is just that their skills are so common it is not worth much. Under democrat rule they had too compete with illegal labor which possessed the same skills driving wages down. Under Trump that has been lessened so there is upward pressure on wages. If we are really at full employment there should a massive pressure to increase wages.

People who favor the free market only seem to favor it when there is downward pressure on wages. The free market cuts both ways. Sometimes it dictates wages go up too.

When businesses say that they can find no available labor what they are actually saying is that they can find no available labor at a price they are willing to pay which is an argument against free markets.
 
Darth Omar said:
It is what it is.

We can't just keep doing what we've been doing on immigration. Besides, market shortages correct themselves eventually. Maybe we need to go back to teaching trades in high school to fill the vacuum. Carpenters and brick layers make decent money and that money will stay here if we hire US citizens to do it.
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there is no shortage. Companies just dont want to raise wages as the market dictates.
 
tsuke said:
minimum wage workers do have skills. It is just that their skills are so common it is not worth much. Under democrat rule they had too compete with illegal labor which possessed the same skills driving wages down. Under Trump that has been lessened so there is upward pressure on wages. If we are really at full employment there should a massive pressure to increase wages.

People who favor the free market only seem to favor it when there is downward pressure on wages. The free market cuts both ways. Sometimes it dictates wages go up too.

When businesses say that they can find no available labor what they are actually saying is that they can find no available labor at a price they are willing to pay which is an argument against free markets.
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Yes, if there is a true competition for workers then there is no point in a min wage as the businesses will pay what they must. Which is whyin wage is most typically unskilled. Can't do simple math, read, write or have true skills. With recent illegals bolting for the border those u unskilled and creating a void which should have been there all along but lack of enforcement enabled. And yes, those political favors were bought and sold.
 
cawacko said:
Ok Mr. Marx. You want wages to rise which is fine but there are trade offs that come with it.
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i want what the market dictates. If your argument is that wages would get too high therefore government needs to step in and introduce more labor then you dont believe in a free market. You believe in a system where the government protects companies at the expense of workers.

Its not hard to understand. Labor is a commodity. If there is a shortage the value increases if there is a surplus the value decreases vis a vis demand of course.
 
tsuke said:
arbitrary in that its just a random number set by the government whereas whatever number labor and capital agree to without the additional downward pressure of slave labor would be what the labor is actually worth.
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How should that agreement be structured? Should it be based on the gross profits of the company, based on the hard work the laborers do?

Because McDonalds would be paying more than a construction company.
 
cawacko said:
From your article:

""But apart from higher prices and inconvenience to consumers, Marek said the worker shortage is a drag on the economy, keeping the recovery from going full throttle. Marek said he is turning down projects for lack of workers.''"


Reducing productivity and growth to force wages higher does not help the economy grow.
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Agree. Neither does forcing increased productivity for lower wages in a limited jobs market.
 
Darth Omar said:
It is what it is.

We can't just keep doing what we've been doing on immigration. Besides, market shortages correct themselves eventually. Maybe we need to go back to teaching trades in high school to fill the vacuum. Carpenters and brick layers make decent money and that money will stay here if we hire US citizens to do it.
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How many U.S citizens do those jobs and get paid under the table?
 
cawacko said:
If we want prices to rise and productivity to slow and we are willing to live with the results then that is a choice we make as a country.

.
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Just as supply side economics is a theory that has been proven not to work....perhaps a new theory is necessary? A rise in prices will always happen. Right now it happens to increase profits and dividends. If it happened due to increased costs for labor, more people would have money to spend, which creates actual demand.
 
tsuke said:
minimum wage workers do have skills. It is just that their skills are so common it is not worth much. Under democrat rule they had too compete with illegal labor which possessed the same skills driving wages down. Under Trump that has been lessened so there is upward pressure on wages. If we are really at full employment there should a massive pressure to increase wages.

People who favor the free market only seem to favor it when there is downward pressure on wages. The free market cuts both ways. Sometimes it dictates wages go up too.

When businesses say that they can find no available labor what they are actually saying is that they can find no available labor at a price they are willing to pay which is an argument against free markets.
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History does not support this nonsense
 
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