Hi Lee,
Re: BWDIK
Quite a lot, actually.
Re: I just think we have our priorities all screwed up.
I nonconcur. It's not a "we" thing, it's a matter of who has the power to negotiate the deals. A personal example is the appalling lack of progress I see in the wages of the building trades, stalled out nominal terms for the past 15 years, and going backward when adjusted for inflation.
If in fact we had some "priorities", someone from the Right would simply come along and bash it as "industrial policy", preferring to seek their own advantage in the jungle of competition rather than the sanity of a well-organized, fair-deal society.
Your example of a $40 trained monkey is an outlier, and I can assure you that machinists, mechanics and many of the extremely skilled and highly educated members of their respective unions would find your comment somewhat hysterical and not at all reality based.
As an aircraft mechanic, I regularly had to wire 200 wire connectors to specifications much more complex than 3 wire house wiring yet an electrician makes 3 times what an aircraft mechanic does. Why? Union representation. Is the answer to move wages up for the mechanic? Not unless you want inflation.
I would refer you to the writings of Milton Friedman, William Greider, Caroline Baum and others who, IMHO, correctly view inflation as a monetary phenomenon. It is a matter of cheapening the currency by seigniorage that causes inflation, not higher wages.
I have a friend who is an EE-PE. He's made enough money of some inventions to now be happily retired. But in the late 1970's, he was being so poorly rewarded for his electronic expertise that he turned to electrical contracting as a more lucrative endeavor. Fortunately, wages for electricians afforded him a living wage at the time. I do not begrudge the efforts of those who organize labor unions. They serve an important function in leveling the playing field of competition. I will make an exception though, in the case of the two strongest unions in the country, the AMA and the ABA. They seem to have created a reward structure way out of line with the value they offer to society. <w>
Bon Chance, Ray :) |
