On the Concept of Giving Arbitrary and Coercively Levied Wage Increases to Unskilled Laborers (Many of Them Young, Retirees, Not Bread-Winners, Etc.)
It is only advocated by those who fail to understand the text (the same with protectionism, anti-technology, anti-immigration, make-work advocacy, etc.).
Unskilled labor has always presented a bit of a problem. The Roman emperor Domitian, (history judges him an efficient but autocratic ass h*le), revitalized a sagging economy with large public works programs. He was approached by a technocrat who had invented a pulley operated crane. It would save x hundred laborers. Domitian had him banished to the edge of the Empire, thinking the more he employed, the less plebian poor mass to feed from the common dole. One historian waggishly noted that the 'industrial revolution was postponed for another millenia'.
I'm not so sure about public works projects revitalizing the economy, either. I mean, yeah, an improved infrastructure can sometimes cause a business to relocate to your country or area, but it certainly didn't work for Hoover and FDR in this country or the Japanese in the '90s. The way that I see it, you're basically taking money from one pile and dumping it in another and when the government spends it stupidly the end result is on balance negative.
Unskilled labor has always presented a bit of a problem. The Roman emperor Domitian, (history judges him an efficient but autocratic ass h*le), revitalized
ReplyDeletea sagging economy with large public works programs. He was approached by a technocrat who had invented a pulley operated crane. It would save x hundred
laborers. Domitian had him banished to the edge of the Empire, thinking the more
he employed, the less plebian poor mass to feed from the common dole. One historian
waggishly noted that the 'industrial revolution was postponed for another millenia'.
It's not their money (those who advocate this) not their property. .. so they are so generous in this regard.
ReplyDeleteI'm not so sure about public works projects revitalizing the economy, either. I mean, yeah, an improved infrastructure can sometimes cause a business to relocate to your country or area, but it certainly didn't work for Hoover and FDR in this country or the Japanese in the '90s. The way that I see it, you're basically taking money from one pile and dumping it in another and when the government spends it stupidly the end result is on balance negative.
ReplyDelete