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Supply and demand. It's disappointing I'm not surprised by the profound ignorance of this article at what used to be a prestigious organization.

throw_m239339 6y ago
> Supply and demand. It's disappointing I'm not surprised by the profound ignorance of this article at what used to be a prestigious organization. Was it also supply and demand when a bunch of silicon valley corporations decided to keep salaries low with secret agreements?
- LesserEvil665 6y ago
  right, in OC's mind that should be A-OK. Viewing everything through the lens of supply & demand without any other consideration will make monsters of us all.
- neartheplain 6y ago
  Do you have credible suspicion of such collusion in the anime industry? And to answer your question, no. It was a crime, and law enforcement put a stop to it.
- gnarbarian 6y ago
  Monopolies and colluding oligopolies break capitalism. It's why we have antitrust law, which we don't really seem to use anymore (probably due to regulatory capture).
- ggreer 6y ago
  Most people who know about that case are mistaken about certain crucial facts. The collusion was that some companies agreed not to cold call each other's employees.[1] Hiring was still allowed, as were other recruiting methods such as e-mail or LinkedIn messages. The particularly nasty bit of collusion was between Apple and a few other companies (Google, Adobe, Pixar). This collusion only happened because of Steve Jobs's vindictive personality combined with interlocking directorates[2]: Jobs was on the board of Pixar, and Google & Adobe executives were on Apple's board. Despite Jobs's best efforts, the collusion fell apart after only 4 years because the companies kept poaching from each other. It was over a year later that the DoJ filed its first complaint. Despite what most people think, it's really hard for companies to cartelize. There is a massive incentive for any one member of the cartel to pretend to collude while secretly not colluding. Typically, such arrangements fall apart unless there is a governing body that can sniff out and punish defectors. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_Litigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_L... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlocking_directorate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlocking_directorate
dfilppi 6y ago
Bingo. It's amazing how this simple concept continues to confound otherwise intelligent people.
- gnarbarian 6y ago
  It's easy to understand once you realize it's a propaganda outlet. We have smart minds doing their best to tell a particular story regardless of facts. Here is some good reading on the phenomena https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/145660.The_Captive_Mind https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/145660.The_Captive_Mind
cmeacham98 6y ago
Blindly following 'supply and demand' for the labor market does not make sense, for the obvious reason: participation by the suppliers is effectively mandatory. For the vast majority of people who need to work to be able to afford rent/food/etc, they _must_ sell their labor somewhere, and that choice is additionally restricted by the skills and experience they have (you can switch careers, but an animator can't just pack up and become a programmer immediately - significant time/money is invested to gain the skills and/or experience and/or credentials needed for another job). In aggregate, the labor market generally follows "higher skill (i.e. lower supply) job = higher wage", but zoom in on any smaller part and that is not guaranteed.

throw_m239339 6y ago

> Supply and demand. It's disappointing I'm not surprised by the profound ignorance of this article at what used to be a prestigious organization. Was it also supply and demand when a bunch of silicon valley corporations decided to keep salaries low with secret agreements?

LesserEvil665 6y ago
right, in OC's mind that should be A-OK. Viewing everything through the lens of supply & demand without any other consideration will make monsters of us all.
neartheplain 6y ago
Do you have credible suspicion of such collusion in the anime industry? And to answer your question, no. It was a crime, and law enforcement put a stop to it.
gnarbarian 6y ago
Monopolies and colluding oligopolies break capitalism. It's why we have antitrust law, which we don't really seem to use anymore (probably due to regulatory capture).
ggreer 6y ago
Most people who know about that case are mistaken about certain crucial facts. The collusion was that some companies agreed not to cold call each other's employees.[1] Hiring was still allowed, as were other recruiting methods such as e-mail or LinkedIn messages. The particularly nasty bit of collusion was between Apple and a few other companies (Google, Adobe, Pixar). This collusion only happened because of Steve Jobs's vindictive personality combined with interlocking directorates[2]: Jobs was on the board of Pixar, and Google & Adobe executives were on Apple's board. Despite Jobs's best efforts, the collusion fell apart after only 4 years because the companies kept poaching from each other. It was over a year later that the DoJ filed its first complaint. Despite what most people think, it's really hard for companies to cartelize. There is a massive incentive for any one member of the cartel to pretend to collude while secretly not colluding. Typically, such arrangements fall apart unless there is a governing body that can sniff out and punish defectors. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_Litigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_L... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlocking_directorate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlocking_directorate

dfilppi 6y ago

Bingo. It's amazing how this simple concept continues to confound otherwise intelligent people.

gnarbarian 6y ago
It's easy to understand once you realize it's a propaganda outlet. We have smart minds doing their best to tell a particular story regardless of facts. Here is some good reading on the phenomena https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/145660.The_Captive_Mind https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/145660.The_Captive_Mind

cmeacham98 6y ago

Blindly following 'supply and demand' for the labor market does not make sense, for the obvious reason: participation by the suppliers is effectively mandatory. For the vast majority of people who need to work to be able to afford rent/food/etc, they _must_ sell their labor somewhere, and that choice is additionally restricted by the skills and experience they have (you can switch careers, but an animator can't just pack up and become a programmer immediately - significant time/money is invested to gain the skills and/or experience and/or credentials needed for another job). In aggregate, the labor market generally follows "higher skill (i.e. lower supply) job = higher wage", but zoom in on any smaller part and that is not guaranteed.