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Why is it better to reduce income and working conditions for workers rather than to reduce income for building owners? Why shouldn't the workers be paid well? C
by mmooss 2y ago
Why is it better to reduce income and working conditions for workers rather than to reduce income for building owners? Why shouldn't the workers be paid well? Cutting their pay and working conditions probably won't help much with the labor shortage either.
- xnx 2y ago"In a story beloved by economists it’s said that Milton Friedman was once visiting China when he was shocked to see that, instead of modern tractors and earth movers, thousands of workers were toiling away building a canal with shovels. He asked his host, a government bureaucrat, why more machines weren’t being used. The bureaucrat replied, 'You don’t understand. This is a jobs program.' To which Milton responded, 'Oh, I thought you were trying to build a canal. If it’s jobs you want, you should give these workers spoons, not shovels!'" https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/08/spoons-are-in-aisle-9.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/08/sp...
- mmooss 2y agoMilton Friedman isn't beloved by all, and I'm not talking about reducing efficiency.
- bluGill 2y agoPrefab would increase the working conditions of workers. A factory is generally less dangerous than a construction site. Workers should be paid fairly - paying them too much robs everyone else. (what is fair is subject to debate of course)
- mmooss 2y agoPaying everyone else robs workers. Neither has some moral superiority (except one is doing the work).