
U.S. Labor Markets Aren’t Truly Free - Synroc
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-10-21/free-markets-could-make-workers-better-off
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yasp
Of course they aren't. What do you think minimum wage and licensing laws do?

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skh
Labor has virtually no pricing power in the U.S. except in a few industries.
Minimum wage laws and licensing laws are the cause of U.S. labor markets not
being a truly free market.

Did you read the article? The author clearly paints a picture of too much
pricing power in the hands of corporations and consolidations in business.
Your counterpoint is the minimum wage is what prevents labor from being a
truly free market? I can’t see how getting rid of one of the few protections
for workers would make the labor market more free.

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yasp
Freedom is the right to choose. Minimum wage laws restrict someone from
choosing to enter into a contract to sell their labor below a rate set by the
government. Licensing laws restrict someone from choosing to purchase the
labor of someone not accredited by the government. In both circumstances the
individual’s right to choose is curtailed. The headline of the article was
“Labor Markets Aren’t Truly Free”. That the author chose to focus on employers
is beside the point. The fact that labor markets aren’t “truly free” is
transparently obvious.

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skh
Instead of looking at the headline read the article. It’s clearly about the
lack of pricing power for labor. The author is decrying the absence of pricing
power on the part of labor so responding with a suggestion to further erode
that pricing power without providing any evidence that this action would help
labor is not constructive. Unless your point is that emoloyers have too little
pricing power and we need to correct the mechanisms that take away their
power.

