5 ms·
> You see where this is going. Bob, Ted and you convene secretly and agree you won't poach each others employees or pay them more than $15/hr? And since you're
by tbrake 11y ago
> You see where this is going.
Bob, Ted and you convene secretly and agree you won't poach each others employees or pay them more than $15/hr? And since you're the only game in town and can afford to undercut any competition until they're run off, everyone's forced to deal with it.
- WalterBright 11y agoIt's hard to see how the secret wouldn't get out that there are employees producing 10x what they're paid, and I don't see how you could get every investor in the country to collude voluntarily.
- techdragon 11y agoIt's not that every one has to collude it's that enough collude to make things worse.
- WalterBright 11y agoYeah, pretty much everyone has to collude. Otherwise, why would anyone work for $10 when someone else offers $20?
- bobwaycott 11y agoBecause there is imperfect information available. Because people take poor deals out of necessity. Because the guy paying $20 isn't hiring right now, but the guy paying $10 is. It's really not hard to think of some potentially realistic and viable reasons here.
- morgante 11y agoAnd then Mark comes along, realizes you have some great employees, refuses to collude, and hires them for $50/hr.
- tamana 11y agoWhich ends the practice after years of wealth extraction. Economics is efficient only in the limit to infinity, not immediately.