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> In most cases, if you find a price unfair, you wouldn’t agree to it, so if someone does agree, that’s evidence that they find it fair, which is evidence that

by gtsop 4y ago

> In most cases, if you find a price unfair, you wouldn’t agree to it, so if someone does agree, that’s evidence that they find it fair, which is evidence that it is fair. Lol, no? It makes me wonder if the author lives in the real world. Accepting a deal does not happen in a vacumn and is in no way evidence of fairness. 1) it could be there are no other people offering what you need, forcing you to accept an unfair deal 2) it could be a trade union forcing unfair deals on a sector so you really don't have a choise 3) You may find out the deal is unfair after the fact because some new information came to light, and so much more

chrisseaton 4y ago
I think the author's point is that all these factors (like the basic supply and demand in your first point) are what sets the 'fair' price. If they don't, then their point is how are you defining 'fair'? Just a gut feeling?
chii 4y ago
But there's no universally absolute metric for what it means to be "fair". The best metric so far is that if someone else exists that accepts the deal, then the deal could be considered fair. It's essentially like in an auction (but instead of the highest bidder, it's the lowest bidder).
Apreche 4y ago
Precisely. I think the two biggest reasons that people accept job offers with unfair compensation are: 1) Desperation. People need to eat. If someone needs food, water, health care, and shelter they can be forced to accept a job, any job, no matter how unfair, to survive. IMHO all those things are human rights. If we make it official policy that those things are human rights, then people will only accept jobs that are worth it. 2) Information asymmetry. People do not realize what their labor is worth. Most employees do not know, in real numbers, the value of their own labor. If they knew that their labor was producing 10x value for the company, but their wages were only 3x, they would probably demand wages of 9x or quit. The company’s ability to keep that information hidden is essential to maintaining their labor exploitation mechanism.
rk06 4y ago
Read the full article, the author points out the flaw in the next point
- gtsop 4y ago
  I admit that I didn't manage to read after my mentioned paragraph
closedloop129 4y ago
They argue this this in section 2. >Due to an unfortunate sequence of events, only one towing company is operating at this moment. The driver wants $1000 to tow your car. The normal price, which obtains when the towing companies have to compete with each other, is $75. The $1000 price seems unfairly high.

by gtsop 4y ago

chrisseaton 4y ago

I think the author's point is that all these factors (like the basic supply and demand in your first point) are what sets the 'fair' price. If they don't, then their point is how are you defining 'fair'? Just a gut feeling?

chii 4y ago

But there's no universally absolute metric for what it means to be "fair". The best metric so far is that if someone else exists that accepts the deal, then the deal could be considered fair. It's essentially like in an auction (but instead of the highest bidder, it's the lowest bidder).

Apreche 4y ago

Precisely. I think the two biggest reasons that people accept job offers with unfair compensation are: 1) Desperation. People need to eat. If someone needs food, water, health care, and shelter they can be forced to accept a job, any job, no matter how unfair, to survive. IMHO all those things are human rights. If we make it official policy that those things are human rights, then people will only accept jobs that are worth it. 2) Information asymmetry. People do not realize what their labor is worth. Most employees do not know, in real numbers, the value of their own labor. If they knew that their labor was producing 10x value for the company, but their wages were only 3x, they would probably demand wages of 9x or quit. The company’s ability to keep that information hidden is essential to maintaining their labor exploitation mechanism.

rk06 4y ago

Read the full article, the author points out the flaw in the next point

gtsop 4y ago
I admit that I didn't manage to read after my mentioned paragraph

closedloop129 4y ago

They argue this this in section 2. >Due to an unfortunate sequence of events, only one towing company is operating at this moment. The driver wants $1000 to tow your car. The normal price, which obtains when the towing companies have to compete with each other, is $75. The $1000 price seems unfairly high.