Labor and Wages

Autoworkers are angry at their working situation and are striking for higher wages and a shorter work week. Their anger is misdirected.

Some Jamaicans complain that the Chinese are "colonizing" the country because of their economic success there. Actually, their success is due to entrepreneurship and plain hard work.

Another Labor Day has passed with the same pro-union rhetoric dominating the media and politics. However, being pro-union is not the same as being pro-labor, especially given that unions often are the most anti-worker entities in our political economy.

While Graham Priest seems to have "rescued" Marxism from the labor theory of value, he cannot rescue Marxism itself.

The decision to use artificial intelligence–powered robots in the fast food industry depends upon differences in costs and performance between humans and robots. State minimum wage laws are pushing the industry toward robots.

Just-wage theory tells us that an employer cannot reduce his workers' wages below some presumed "cost of living." Yet, that same employer can be permitted to reduce the worker's wage to zero if the worker has been replaced by a machine. 

Some Jamaicans complain that the Chinese are "colonizing" the country because of their economic success there. Actually, their success is due to entrepreneurship and plain hard work.

Yellow Trucking Company has filed for bankruptcy and ceases to exist as a viable firm. Much of the blame is due to the Teamsters Union which has a long a violent history.

Tho and Connor O'Keeffe discuss the role government incompetency played in the horrific tragedy of the Maui wildfires, as well as the bankruptcy of one of America's largest trucking companies. 

While Graham Priest seems to have "rescued" Marxism from the labor theory of value, he cannot rescue Marxism itself.