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> They are not and never have been. They have always been paid what someone is willing to pay them for the work they do. “Willing” is the wrong word. People ar
by amscanne 6y ago
> They are not and never have been. They have always been paid what someone is willing to pay them for the work they do.
“Willing” is the wrong word. People are paid based on what the company can get away with paying them, as long as it’s less than the amount that they are “willing” to pay (then they don’t get hired).
In other words, the labor market is more like a 2nd price auction than a 1st price. This is obvious when considering the “go get a competing offer and show it to your current employer who will match” strategy. You just changed the 2nd price!
- waheoo 6y agoTruth.
- take_a_breath 6y agoYes, companies have an information advantage in labor economics. People need to stop treating it like an Econ 101 equation.
- waheoo 6y agoBut it is. Just because people are conditioned to avoid sharing information doesnt mean they cant break that norm and gain the advantage. Unions are exactly that.
- take_a_breath 6y agoThis is like saying python is the same as COBOL because they are both computer languages. Unions are not something studied in Economics 101 as labor economics is its own field of study and typically isn’t covered until 300 or 400 level courses.