Replies

the "global market" didn't dictate any of this stuff in decades past. we had sane trade policies, and tariffs as needed. globalism and free trade is a sellout, the elites are selling out middle class americans. and illegal immigration is also part of that, providing a low wage pool of workers for service jobs.

since when did it become a "sin" for a restaurant to charge a price for a meal that was sufficient to provide wages for their legal workers? why is it that now in America, we feel that these business have some sort of inalienable right to illegal alien workers, so they can lower their wage costs?

Tarrifs and trade policies can only cover for overblown wage rates for so long. Sooner or later the bill comes due. The cr@p is hitting the fan now. But certainly smart economists have seen this coming for some time.

It never has been a "sin" for restaurants "to charge a price for a meal that was sufficient to provide wages for their legal workers". People will pay whatever price they think the meal is worth in terms of taste, ambiance and service. Restaurants are not subject to global competition as we can't go over seas to get a meal. Restaurants will be impacted by globalism to the extent that they purchase food and equipment from overseas. Labor rates are subject to whatever workers local workers are demanding.

why is it that now in America, we feel that these business have some sort of inalienable right to illegal alien workers, so they can lower their wage costs?

I don't understand this question. Can you explain what you mean.

One side note. I'm sure that most companies that outsource some jobs overseas wish they didn't have to do that. Believe me, from experience, it's not easy and it's not fun. But what can they do? In many cases labor costs are a large part of their total cost of goods. All else being equal they have no choice but to go where the labor costs are lower. Some of this may backfire on companies as i do believe the stats that for years have indicated Americans are among the top most productive workers. And i happen to believe American workers are conscientious workers who really want to do a good job. And so in the long run maybe outsourcing is not the answer after all. But then again, in the long run we're all dead. But in the short run some companies will be dead if they don't follow the cheap labor.

since when did it become a "sin" for a restaurant to charge a price for a meal that was sufficient to provide wages for their legal workers?

This is the way restaurants do work, and has never been a "sin". What would be a sin is thinking that one can arbitrarily raise prices to cover arbitrary wage increases and still expect people to come to the restaurant. All that will do is put you out of business.

What is unfortunate is that politicians often force restaurants to raise wages, with the same general outcome. That said, minimum wage increases are far more destructive to unionized businesses, since union wages are often pegged as a multiple of the minimum wage. Most non-union businesses are unaffected by minimum wage levels, which is part of why it is union type jobs that are so commonly outsourced.