Labor Pains

Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke
And somebody spoke and I went into a dream
--The Beatles

This article sketches the domestic job situation. High domestic labor prices, a growing global labor pool that can do similar work much cheaper, and info systems that facilitate remote linkages blow strong secular headwinds in the face of US workers.

One outcome is that those who are employed are more likely to be in a 'contract worker' situation with less benefits and less security than in the past.

There are innuendos in the article that domestic employers are cruel for engaging in these types of practices, and that government must intervene to provide more security in this situation.

As some folks like to say, however, the toothpaste is out of the tube w.r.t. global trade. Past efforts to prop labor prices above market (e.g., labor unions, minimum wage, protectionist trade rules) are now making for a greater fall from the ledge.

Further intervention promises similar 'killing with kindness' outcomes.