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> How about if it costs a 100$ per loaf of bread? If bread cost that much, we'd start eating more rice, pasta, and potatoes. We'd change our meal plan. Likewi

> How about if it costs a 100$ per loaf of bread? If bread cost that much, we'd start eating more rice, pasta, and potatoes. We'd change our meal plan. Likewise, if the employees you need to hire to execute on your business plan are too expensive, you need to adjust your business plan. Maybe hire different kinds of employees, maybe pursue higher margin opportunities, maybe cut your losses and try something else.

aianus 9y ago
> If bread cost that much, we'd start eating more rice, pasta, and potatoes. Or maybe we'd import bread from other countries where it goes for $5/loaf? Nah, let's just protect our virtuous $100/loaf domestic industry at all costs and blame the greedy consumers for being selfish and cheap ;) s/consumers/employers s/loaf/programmer-hour
- humanrebar 9y ago
  I was under the assumption that the $100 price included the prices of imports. At some point the analogy breaks down, since importing people isn't the same thing as importing things. The points were that these kinds of pricing shifts can and have happened before, reactions can be varied, and reactions usually affect things on the demand (i.e., employer) side of the equation.
klipt 9y ago
> If bread cost that much, we'd start eating more rice, pasta, and potatoes. We'd change our meal plan. Or people would realize the ingredients for bread cost < $1, bakeries would pop up, and the price of bread would drop back to normal. Similarly if software developers are all charging $1,000,000 / year, it gets cheaper to find smart people who aren't software developers (yes, there are plenty of smart people in other professions) and train them.
stale2002 9y ago
And what if those other things ALSO cost 100$ a meal? Is there a shortage of food? Even if it is just bread, is it a good thing or a bad thing for society if bread costs 100$?

aianus 9y ago

> If bread cost that much, we'd start eating more rice, pasta, and potatoes. Or maybe we'd import bread from other countries where it goes for $5/loaf? Nah, let's just protect our virtuous $100/loaf domestic industry at all costs and blame the greedy consumers for being selfish and cheap ;) s/consumers/employers s/loaf/programmer-hour

humanrebar 9y ago
I was under the assumption that the $100 price included the prices of imports. At some point the analogy breaks down, since importing people isn't the same thing as importing things. The points were that these kinds of pricing shifts can and have happened before, reactions can be varied, and reactions usually affect things on the demand (i.e., employer) side of the equation.

klipt 9y ago

> If bread cost that much, we'd start eating more rice, pasta, and potatoes. We'd change our meal plan. Or people would realize the ingredients for bread cost < $1, bakeries would pop up, and the price of bread would drop back to normal. Similarly if software developers are all charging $1,000,000 / year, it gets cheaper to find smart people who aren't software developers (yes, there are plenty of smart people in other professions) and train them.

stale2002 9y ago

And what if those other things ALSO cost 100$ a meal? Is there a shortage of food? Even if it is just bread, is it a good thing or a bad thing for society if bread costs 100$?