re: Whatever else you might have to say about Henry Ford, he did realize that if he paid his workers more they would be able to afford the cars he was building. That sort of self interest seems to be foreign to many CEOs. When they reach their goal of everyone being at the lowest wage structure, who can afford to buy their products?
Good points. One thing I see happening wrt call centers is domestic workers working from home on the VPN, this is getting very big. The corporation can save money on physical plant, heating and air conditioning, liability insurance, paper, all sorts of costs. The employee saves money on transportation and clothing, buying lunch, travel time, etc. It's a win/win and from what I understand can be cheaper than outsourcing call centers to India.
I'm convinced that if we can lower legal and illegal immigration at the low end, we can create higher wages at the low end of the pay scale. And that will work it's way up... if unskilled workers are earning $13 per hour it puts pressure on wages of semi-skilled workers, and if semi skilled workers get $18 per hour then skilled workers... on up the scale. We need a better balance of supply and demand in the labor force. I'm sure that's why Bush isn't fighting illegal immigration; it hurts his corporate buddies.
But I, like you, am leaning more protectionist. But I think it's a short term fix to a long term problem.
John |
