4 ms·
Non-competes are anti-business, anti-innovation and feudal. I have never signed one. I can't tell you how many times I have been asked to sign one that locks
by drawkbox 13y ago
Non-competes are anti-business, anti-innovation and feudal. I have never signed one.
I can't tell you how many times I have been asked to sign one that locks up your skills, which you are bringing to the company that they might not have yet, solely for them for years even though the project might only be 3-6 months.
I applaud this effort immensely in MA, there is no place for non-competes in the US. It is entirely anti-business, funny that fighting against this anti-business and anti-small business process comes from the liberal NE.
The game industry also has a big problem with this, you can't even work on games outside of work while at a major studio (why almost every game developer has to break out on their own rather than stay at a company -- game devs in MA will cheer this). Treating skilled workers badly and shutting them down the moment they aren't working for you. How is that not feudal in nature?
NDAs/confidentiality, contracts while being paid for work, that is understandable, non-competes should never be signed unless you are paid during that tenure at a premium, opportunity cost is huge. MA legislation is actually doing some good work for the individuals, smalls and mids here, the engine of America.
Next up, remove taxes for small companies until they reach a certain revenue threshold.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 13y agoNon-competes are very much pro-business, in that they weaken the power of labor.
- drawkbox 13y agoSmall businesses, contractors, freelancers, and more who are asked to sign these are very much businesses and it is very anti-business to them. It is relative, if you are big and established they are good, if you are small/medium (where most innovation and eventual businesses comes from) then they are bad. It is anti fair business, but in a monopolistic/feudal/plutocratic type system it might be pro-business to own skilled people (anti-poaching agreements are also pro-business in that view). In a libertarian and free market sense it is anti-business when viewed from the aspect of an individual/small/mid company. I guess its safer to say non-competes are pro big business and anti small business / anti innovation at least.
- rz2k 13y agoAnd, if understood in that way, it is an instance where the term "pro-business" is a political ideology rather than an economic perspective. Historically the rationale for pro-business policies is that greater production creates more wealth for everyone in a society. As a result it could be argued that a labor union might hurt an economy if less output comes from the same input, while those labor unions' arguments would be that they disagree about how different working conditions maximize the society's actual utility. A non-compete on the other hand is a contract to decrease worker productivity. It is the opposite of union agreements that forced companies to employ people whose work is no longer needed, it is an agreement not to work. Furthermore, it isn't even entirely about benefiting business owners over their employees, but about benefiting established companies for their past success rather than whether or not they can compete in the current business environment.
- _delirium 13y agoHistorically the rationale for pro-business policies is that greater production creates more wealth for everyone in a society. I don't think that's really true, in a realpolitik sense if you look into why different interest groups were advocating for "pro-business" policies at various points in various countries' histories. Historically the rationale for "pro-business" policies has most often been that they increase the profits of businessmen, which is why parties mainly representing the business sector have advocated for them. Sometimes they produce more wealth for everyone in society, sometimes they reduce it, other times they're roughly wealth-neutral but just reallocating it. But that isn't the point or the parties' raison d'être, though they may pretend it is in their politicking.
- nickff 13y agoThis is a 'bootleggers and baptists'[1] situation, and it is almost impossible to determine the true motives of the politicians.[1] We might be suspicious of the motives of the politicians, but we should also consider that they may be operating with a variety of rationales, all difficult to disentangle. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootleggers_and_Baptists http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootleggers_and_Baptists
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- dragonwriter 13y ago"pro-capital" isn't necessarily the same thing as "pro-business"; non-competes, in particular, reduce labor market mobility, which reduces overall market efficiency in the same way that barriers to capital market liquidity would.
- nickff 13y agoThough I have never, and will never sign one of these agreements, I cannot agree with your statement that they "reduce[] overall market efficiency". First off, such a grand claim merits some citation of empirical or theoretical evidence. Secondly, there are a variety of ways that these agreements (which I do not support) may increase productivity, such as by increasing the employer's trust in the employee, allowing the latter to access confidential documents, and increasing the average period of employment, thereby giving the employee more time to accrue experience and improve productivity in a specific field and/or application.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- api 13y agoCapitalism is an adversarial system. People forget that.
- pekk 13y agoIt's not a zero-sum system.
- api 13y agoDoesn't matter. If you have no leverage you don't capture any of the upside regardless of whether the overall system is growing.
- dredmorbius 13y agoAt its limits it is. Beyond them, it's negative-sum.
- mseebach 13y agoNo, it's not. People forget that.
- MisterBastahrd 13y agoYes they do, but they also weaken the labor pool. Their primary purpose as used nowadays is not to protect any vital business interest but to make it difficult for employees to move around the marketplace and seek their best rate.