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But this concept of "market rate" itself depends on the immigration system, which artificially restricts supply. In a genuinely free market, with no immigration
by geofft 7y ago
But this concept of "market rate" itself depends on the immigration system, which artificially restricts supply. In a genuinely free market, with no immigration system ("shadow" or otherwise - but both are part of the same immigration system), you would find lots of engineers willing to work at what we'd consider a modest salary in the US.
The "realities of the market" are that part of why Apple engineering salaries are what they are is because of how national borders got drawn. Had California been an independent country without an open border with the rest of the US, salaries in Silicon Valley would be significantly higher, and people would be saying that "the market" set this rate. If we got rid of immigration restrictions entirely, which are certainly government interference in the free market, we'd get closer to seeing the actual market rate.
- geebee 7y agoGood points, I tend to agree. It is difficult to know what sort of market would emerge. I’m not convinced that engineer salaries would drop, since I think this could 1) spark a massive amount of economic growth and 2) vastly expanded the choices available to talented people both in and outside engineering (I wouldn’t assume all those talented people on tech visas would remain engineers or even study engineering in the first place if they had greater freedom of choice and movement) For now I think the guiding principle should be that immigrants should be free to participate freely in the labor market as free and full members of society, not restricted by corporations in what fields to study, what jobs to work, what salaries to accept, or what locations to live in, as a condition of living and working in the US. Interestingly I think people can have very different opinions about the general level of immigration while agreeing strongly on this principle.