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I really dislike the paternalistic attitude in this article. It treats working people like wayward children who must be kept from sinful idleness. It does not t

by apozem 5y ago

I really dislike the paternalistic attitude in this article. It treats working people like wayward children who must be kept from sinful idleness. It does not treat them as rational economic actors who maybe, just maybe, don't want to work for poverty wages. If you want more applicants and higher employee retention, pay them more. It's that simple.

quacked 5y ago
I think the "not wanting to work for poverty wages" thing makes more sense when you compare the tradeoff. Until you're making around $30k, you can either be in dire financial straits and not work 40 hours per week, or you can be in dire financial straits and work 40 hours per week. Who in their right mind would choose the second option?
gruez 5y ago
>I really dislike the paternalistic attitude in this article. It treats working people like wayward children who must be kept from sinful idleness. It does not treat them as rational economic actors who maybe, just maybe, don't want to work for poverty wages. But the article does exactly that? The title literally says "The U.S. Doesn't Have a Labor Shortage. It Has an Incentive Shortage", which definitively hints it's an economic problem rather than a moral problem. In the body that's expanded upon >Had government offered me almost equal money not to work, I never would have applied. [...] Given the cost of commuting, etc., many people find they are better off financially not working. In other words, why get a job that pays $15/hr when you can stay at home, play fortnite and "earn" $16/hr[1]? Seems like an entirely rational decision to me. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27225541 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27225541
- tablespoon 5y ago
  > But the article does exactly that? The title literally says "The U.S. Doesn't Have a Labor Shortage. It Has an Incentive Shortage", which definitively hints it's an economic problem rather than a moral problem. In the body that's expanded upon The article is actually seems to be complaining about the US having a desperation shortage, because the one incentive it doesn't talk about is employers offering higher wages. And frankly, the whole point of unemployment is that you're not so desperate that you have to take the first job you find, even if it's a big step down.

by apozem 5y ago

quacked 5y ago

I think the "not wanting to work for poverty wages" thing makes more sense when you compare the tradeoff. Until you're making around $30k, you can either be in dire financial straits and not work 40 hours per week, or you can be in dire financial straits and work 40 hours per week. Who in their right mind would choose the second option?

gruez 5y ago

>I really dislike the paternalistic attitude in this article. It treats working people like wayward children who must be kept from sinful idleness. It does not treat them as rational economic actors who maybe, just maybe, don't want to work for poverty wages. But the article does exactly that? The title literally says "The U.S. Doesn't Have a Labor Shortage. It Has an Incentive Shortage", which definitively hints it's an economic problem rather than a moral problem. In the body that's expanded upon >Had government offered me almost equal money not to work, I never would have applied. [...] Given the cost of commuting, etc., many people find they are better off financially not working. In other words, why get a job that pays $15/hr when you can stay at home, play fortnite and "earn" $16/hr[1]? Seems like an entirely rational decision to me. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27225541 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27225541

tablespoon 5y ago
> But the article does exactly that? The title literally says "The U.S. Doesn't Have a Labor Shortage. It Has an Incentive Shortage", which definitively hints it's an economic problem rather than a moral problem. In the body that's expanded upon The article is actually seems to be complaining about the US having a desperation shortage, because the one incentive it doesn't talk about is employers offering higher wages. And frankly, the whole point of unemployment is that you're not so desperate that you have to take the first job you find, even if it's a big step down.