Re: Interconnectedness of Employment Markets (was Bankruptcy

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It's true, education is becoming overrated. Want a good lawer? The Yellow Pages are
full of them; want a good plumber, contractor, carpenter, painter ... stand in line! I
have two friends who do construction and painting; they are meticulous, conscientious,
and honest. They have waiting lists of clients begging to have work done for top
dollar. Sure they do physical labor and get "dirty." But, they now have work crews
who do the actual work while they keep the clients happy and make sure the work is done
to the high standards their reputation has been built on. They get paid for materials
up front, and make well over $100k a year. Americans want the biggest house with the
most modern appliances and comforts with the most beautiful interiors and landscaping.
As a result, my friends drive new trucks every year, work in t-shirts and jeans, drink
Starbucks coffee, and make their own hours. I used to swing a hammer in college way
before law school and can still frame additions, build decks, and re-roof houses.
Their are plenty of days I wonder if I should trade in my briefcase for a tool belt.
Oh well, just thinking of options ...

~Zephyr

On 4/03/06, Mr. Blue wrote:
> On 4/02/06, L wrote:
>> On 4/02/06, Mr. Blue wrote:
>> Of course, we're also continuing to shed lower middle
>>> class blue collar jobs with many of those jobs going to illegals (construction
>> and
>>> meat packing come to mind).
>>>
>> Most whites and blacks won't do those jobs anyway.
>
> Didn't Americans do these jobs in the past? Also, don't basic economic principles
> dictate that if the price point (wages) were to increase that the supply of people
> willing to work at that price point would also increase? I'm amazed that so many
> commentators and politicians can get away with their claims that we have shortages of
> people in various fields and that the alleged shortages are intractable problems that
> can only be solved by importing foreigners. They always purposely forget to mention
> that supply is a function of the price point.
>
>> The illegals work for less
>> than the minimum wage so Americans can enjoy goods/services at low prices.
>
> The prices on the front-end are low. However, the invisible prices on the back-end
> are high. Who pays to educate the illegals' children? Who pays for their hospital
> care? Who pays the environmental costs associated with having a higher population?
> Who pays when the wealthy who own the means of production can keep a larger percentage
> of the wealth produced as profit instead of having to pay it out to their employees as
> a result of an artificially high supply of labor?
>
>> You've been looking for meatpacking jobs and losing out to illegals?
>
> No, but I recognize that my economic fortune is partially a function of the overall
> state of the employment market. My belief is that I am more likely to enjoy a higher
> standard of living in a wealthy country with a large and vibrant middle class (such as
> the U.S.) than I would in a third world country. Also, it has a negative effect on
> our client base. Where will solos' clients come from if the lower middle class and
> the middle class sink into poverty?
>
> Furthermore, the employment market is interconnected and malaise in one area could
> translate into an increased supply of available labor in other areas as people obtain
> training for other fields.
>
> Have you considered why we have so many lawyers (or MBAs, etc.)? Why is it that so
> many people go to college and then law school instead of just beginning work after
> high school? Why are so many people discontent with a bachelor's degree? Why do so
> many science Ph.D.'s feel a need to go to law school? Answer--because they felt that
> they needed the law degree because the job market for people with bachelor's degrees
> and science Ph.D.'s isn't very good. The result is an oversupply of lawyers,
> including patent lawyers. (When I started law school, the entry-level requirement for
> becoming a patent lawyer in the chemstry/biotech area was a bachelor's degree. Today
> it is a Ph.D. and those same people who are now established in the field with
> bachelor's degrees wouldn't even receive as much as a rejection letter if they were to
> apply for entry-level jobs in the field today (using the resumes they had when they
> graduated from law school). This is an example of how malaise in one market can
> affect the supply of labor in another market.) More broadly, in general we're
> witnessing what amounts to an education arms race and the result will be
> college-educated unemployed and underemployed. The people who might have previously
> happily earned middle class incomes working construction and meat-packing are now
> flooding into the universities. Contrary to the opiate the politicians and the media
> are trying to sell to us, education is not a substitute for sound economic policy.
>