Alan Greenspan: We need more work visas for skilled labor

[GeezerMan]

Anyone see the comment from Alan Greenspan on 3/14/07?


Allowing more skilled workers into the country would bring down the salaries of top earners in the United States, easing tensions over the mounting wage gap, Greenspan said.

"Our skilled wages are higher than anywhere in the world," he said. "If we open up a significant window for skilled workers, that would suppress the skilled-wage level and end the concentration of income."

Awful nice he's worried about the income gap between skilled workers and the rest of the workforce. Great idea, Comrade Greenspan.

How about importing some CEOs to ease the huge income gap between a CEO and his workforce?

 

[ProfJohn]

Any idea of what he means by 'skilled workers' ?

 

[babylon5]

Is there a link or video?

"Unskilled workers" already drive down wages lower already. Same idea could work magic for those "skilled" workers too.

 

[GeezerMan]

here's a link.

 

[dahunan]

first thing I found
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aDWi3n1erxT8
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2007/03/alan_greenspan_.html

 

[Moonbeam]

Originally posted by: dahunan
first thing I found
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aDWi3n1erxT8
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2007/03/alan_greenspan_.html

I say we tax them and use the money to create our own skilled workers.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

This is a brilliant plan.

Of course it's just going to increase the income gap between unskilled/skilled laborers and employers/excecutives.

 

[babylon5]

Originally posted by: Gonad the Barbarian
This is a brilliant plan.

Of course it's just going to increase the income gap between unskilled/skilled laborers and employers/excecutives.

Not if we also imported executives/employers from other countries at the same time. Then everyone makes lower wages, and we are all equal. Brilliant plan for future US

 

[GeezerMan]

That's the plan. A combo of free trade and free labor movement across open borders. Sounds good, comrade. We will all be equal. No more envy. No more human nature. Of course, those at the top will be a little more equal than the rest of us

 

[kedlav]

Only problem is that there's not a real issue between skilled/unskilled, at least in comparison to worker/upper management. $40k vs. $60k vs. $5 million. Yup, attack the $60k earners with immigrants...

 

[Siddhartha]

It would lower wages. But it is beyond me on how this would ease tensions between skilled and unskilled labor. I did not know that tension existed between the groups.

 

[HombrePequeno]

Originally posted by: Siddhartha
It would lower wages. But it is beyond me on how this would ease tensions between skilled and unskilled labor. I did not know that tension existed between the groups.

Greenspan, in his miniseries on economics, did an episode on the goodness of sweat shops.

I don't believe I've ever heard of that. Can you provide a link?

 

[Genx87]

There is a huge glut of skilled workers in this nation. Our immigration policies are ass backwards. We let the unskilled dopes in by the millions and restrict the hell out of the highly educated highly skilled labor.

One of the reasons why corporations farm out work to other countries is the complete lack of labor within our own.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: Genx87
There is a huge glut of skilled workers in this nation. Our immigration policies are ass backwards. We let the unskilled dopes in by the millions and restrict the hell out of the highly educated highly skilled labor.

One of the reasons why corporations farm out work to other countries is the complete lack of labor within our own.

I am continually railing against this. I see people every day in my job(s) that are foreign, smart, and yet we make it very difficult for them to stay here long-term. They hardly ever repatriate income and most of the time are, at least at my level, masters degree high-income wage earners.

We should be courting the hell out of these people, enticing them to stay and contribute their incomes and brains to our economy in the long-run. Yet, we make it difficult for them to bring their wives here, or work here on a perm. basis.

 

[dyna]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Originally posted by: Genx87
There is a huge glut of skilled workers in this nation. Our immigration policies are ass backwards. We let the unskilled dopes in by the millions and restrict the hell out of the highly educated highly skilled labor.

One of the reasons why corporations farm out work to other countries is the complete lack of labor within our own.

I am continually railing against this. I see people every day in my job(s) that are foreign, smart, and yet we make it very difficult for them to stay here long-term. They hardly ever repatriate income and most of the time are, at least at my level, masters degree high-income wage earners.

We should be courting the hell out of these people, enticing them to stay and contribute their incomes and brains to our economy in the long-run. Yet, we make it difficult for them to bring their wives here, or work here on a perm. basis.

We would probably have more spots for educated immigrats if we had better control over illegal immigration.

 

[PingSpike]

Shouldn't we just pay them more...that way more people will do it? I mean, lets face it...skilled labor is more difficult and deserves more pay. You can suppress skilled labor wages if you like I guess, but I fail to see how that is going to further increase the supply of them. Every time you suppress the wage, more people decide against going into that field.

Why should you go through the effort of becoming skilled when you can just live off the government's tit, pound some nails, etc...without a signifigant change in lifestyle? There has to be a reward to do this or more and more people will decide against doing it.

Hell, whats to stop those skilled laborers we just shipped in from doing the same thing? Oh thats right, we don't really want more full blown citizens...just more H1B indentured servants to drag the wages down. If they had full rights they couldn't be bullied into poor pay positions with the threat of deportation.

 

[Jaskalas]

Originally posted by: babylon5
Is there a link or video?

"Unskilled workers" already drive down wages lower already. Same idea could work magic for those "skilled" workers too.

Why do we want lower wages?

 

[1EZduzit]

Originally posted by: ProfJohn
Any idea of what he means by 'skilled workers' ?

Somebody willing to work cheap.

 

[1EZduzit]

Originally posted by: GeezerMan

How about importing some CEOs to ease the huge income gap between a CEO and his workforce?

Sorry, but I think that's protected via executive privledge. Instead they will get more money/bigger bonuses/bigger retirements/etc.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: GeezerMan
Anyone see the comment from Alan Greenspan on 3/14/07?


Allowing more skilled workers into the country would bring down the salaries of top earners in the United States, easing tensions over the mounting wage gap, Greenspan said.

"Our skilled wages are higher than anywhere in the world," he said. "If we open up a significant window for skilled workers, that would suppress the skilled-wage level and end the concentration of income."

Awful nice he's worried about the income gap between skilled workers and the rest of the workforce. Great idea, Comrade Greenspan.

How about importing some CEOs to ease the huge income gap between a CEO and his workforce?

Topic Title: Alan Greenspan: We need more work visas for skilled labor
Topic Summary: to "suppress the skilled-wage level and end the concentration of income."

Alan Greenspan should get the U.S. renamed West India then.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: GeezerMan
Anyone see the comment from Alan Greenspan on 3/14/07?


Allowing more skilled workers into the country would bring down the salaries of top earners in the United States, easing tensions over the mounting wage gap, Greenspan said.

"Our skilled wages are higher than anywhere in the world," he said. "If we open up a significant window for skilled workers, that would suppress the skilled-wage level and end the concentration of income."

Awful nice he's worried about the income gap between skilled workers and the rest of the workforce. Great idea, Comrade Greenspan.

How about importing some CEOs to ease the huge income gap between a CEO and his workforce?

Topic Title: Alan Greenspan: We need more work visas for skilled labor
Topic Summary: to "suppress the skilled-wage level and end the concentration of income."

Alan Greenspan should get the U.S. renamed West India then.

Right and who is to blame for that? The Indian's who are educated or the US citizen who didnt bother advancing himself beyond a highschool skillset?

 

[GeezerMan]

Greenspan is in our face with this comment. It's all corporate fascism.And now for our new pledge of allegiance:

"I pledge allegiance to the corporate logo of Halliburton. And to the New World Order, for which it stands,
one enslaved people under the all seeing eye, totally divided, with the Patriot Act to protect all........"

Oh, that should stir things up a bit. And no, I'm not a leftist. I thought Ronald Reagan was a commie.....ha...

Ron Paul for President....

 

[zephyrprime]

Well I hope everyone sees now that the guys like Greenspan are NOT for the free market since the free market's response to a lack of skilled labor (or any scarcity) is to raise prices to encourage more production of skilled labor. These guys are just representing corporate interest. Nowadays, greenspan is just a paid mouthpiece representing corporate interest trading on his fame as former federal reserve chairman.

 

[Termagant]

Originally posted by: zephyrprime
Well I hope everyone sees now that the guys like Greenspan are NOT for the free market since the free market's response to a lack of skilled labor (or any scarcity) is to raise prices to encourage more production of skilled labor. These guys are just representing corporate interest. Nowadays, greenspan is just a paid mouthpiece representing corporate interest trading on his fame as former federal reserve chairman.

The free-est market would be one without national borders so labor could go where the wages are high, supplementing the effect of more production of skilled labor.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: Genx87
Right and who is to blame for that? The Indian's who are educated or the US citizen who didnt bother advancing himself beyond a highschool skillset?

Greenspan is right about the need for skilled labour.

Trying to frame this is having something to do with the 'income gap' Is the most retarded thing I've heard all day, and I've been reading a lot of posts in OT. Even if it were the income gap he's talking about, making the skilled workers worse off isn't really the ideal solution.

The reality of course is that creating a glut of skilled workers to match the glut of unskilled ones will mean the entire labour market is decoupled from the sort of productivity/cost calculations that theoretically make capitalism fair. Right now this decoupling has happened only to the unskilled segment.

The argument from wages comes from the strange business idea that having to actually pay labour is somehow akin to getting 'ripped off'.