Enriching Labor

Standing in line, marking time
Waiting for the welfare dime
'Cause they can't buy a job
--Bruce Hornsby & The Range

There is only one way to enrich labor peacefully: capitalism. As Tom DiLorenzo explains, capitalism has been responsible for pulling the working class from destitution, for increasing wages as worker productivity grows from investment, for shortening the work week, for the demise of child labor, and for safer workplaces.

However, because individuals generally favor less work than more work, they are tempted to acquire resources through political means (read: aggression) rather than through peaceful cooperation, production, and exchange. For example, labor unions and proponents of minimum wage laws, with the assistance of strong armed government agents, seek to force the wages of those in their interest groups above market rates. Perversely, such interventions reduce reduce the amount of labor demanded to the extent that wage rates are indeed forced above the productive capabilities of workers.

Regulations generally impoverish workers as well. For instance, safety regulations impose unnecessary costs on producers who are well motivated in competitive environments to make workplaces safer to reduce compensating difference and retain talent. As unnecessary costs rise, demand for labor declines and workplaces become more dangerous as less incentive exists for markets to create innovative solutions to workplace hazards.

Indeed, it is straightforward to view such interventions as anti-labor. Remove the aggression and encourage voluntary cooperation, along with the investment that it attracts, and the living standards of workers will flourish.