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>Well labour prices (for whatever the industry is) is driven by market forces. [...] If the market rate is artificially inflated [...] First, are all markets j

by ABCLAW 7y ago

>Well labour prices (for whatever the industry is) is driven by market forces. [...] If the market rate is artificially inflated [...] First, are all markets just markets? Second, what if the market rate is artificially depressed - what if it is systemically artificially depressed? Do market expectations align with an appropriate distribution of wealth to labour under conditions where the first is false or the second is true?

davesmith1983 7y ago
> First, are all markets just markets? I am not sure what you mean by this. > Second, what if the market rate is artificially depressed - what if it is systemically artificially depressed? Regarding artificial depression. Well this is where we get into some somewhat controversial territory. Some will argue that immigration artificially depresses wages as you can artificially increase the supply of labour and thus drive down the prices. Those that are conspiratorially minded would claim that large companies would make efforts to lobby Political parties to have a more open doors policy on immigration. Now there is some evidence of the market rate being depressed due to immigration e.g. construction wages have increased in the UK after the "Leave Vote". https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/24/construction-pay-rises-as-eu-workers-weigh-up-leaving-uk-survey-brexit https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/24/constructio... But I remember reading about a Bank of England report which is somewhat recent and this is the published paper: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/working-paper/2015/the-impact-of-immigration-on-occupational-wages-evidence-from-britain https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/working-paper/2015/the-impac... However the stats themselves go over my head. I have google'd around for a simplified explanation (because I don't trust any of the newspapers to be honest as they will each push their own agenda). It appears that the effect on a native workers on minimum wage would have only lost less than a penny per hour due to immigration. A penny per hour is a rounding error for most people. However that seems to be at Odds at what we have seen recently with construction. So I don't know what to think tbh and I won't claim to be any definitive authority on the matter. > Do market expectations align with an appropriate distribution of wealth to labour under conditions where the first is false or the second is true? Sorry it isn't clear what you are asking me to compare.

by ABCLAW 7y ago

davesmith1983 7y ago

> First, are all markets just markets? I am not sure what you mean by this. > Second, what if the market rate is artificially depressed - what if it is systemically artificially depressed? Regarding artificial depression. Well this is where we get into some somewhat controversial territory. Some will argue that immigration artificially depresses wages as you can artificially increase the supply of labour and thus drive down the prices. Those that are conspiratorially minded would claim that large companies would make efforts to lobby Political parties to have a more open doors policy on immigration. Now there is some evidence of the market rate being depressed due to immigration e.g. construction wages have increased in the UK after the "Leave Vote". https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/24/construction-pay-rises-as-eu-workers-weigh-up-leaving-uk-survey-brexit https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/24/constructio... But I remember reading about a Bank of England report which is somewhat recent and this is the published paper: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/working-paper/2015/the-impact-of-immigration-on-occupational-wages-evidence-from-britain https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/working-paper/2015/the-impac... However the stats themselves go over my head. I have google'd around for a simplified explanation (because I don't trust any of the newspapers to be honest as they will each push their own agenda). It appears that the effect on a native workers on minimum wage would have only lost less than a penny per hour due to immigration. A penny per hour is a rounding error for most people. However that seems to be at Odds at what we have seen recently with construction. So I don't know what to think tbh and I won't claim to be any definitive authority on the matter. > Do market expectations align with an appropriate distribution of wealth to labour under conditions where the first is false or the second is true? Sorry it isn't clear what you are asking me to compare.