[extropy-chat] 'Unskilled jobs to go in 10 years'

[Rafal Smigrodzki]

Max M wrote:

> Damien Broderick wrote:
>
>> The prediction is based on the growth in "outsourcing" manufacturing 
>> and sales jobs abroad to economies where staff are hired at a 
>> fraction of the cost.
>
>
>
>
> A cannot really see anything good about outsourcing. Shure we can get 
> stuff cheaper. But it is acheived by people working for less money. 
> Not by people working more efficiently. So it is a net loss.
>
> Furthermore if we "rationalise" by using cheaper labor we will not get 
> the benefits of automation, as there will be less motivation to automate.
>
### If this was the wta-talk, saying that free trade is a "net loss" 
would be more excusable but here on exi-chat an at least elementary 
knowledge of economics is de rigeur.

Obviously, as any voluntary contractual relationship between humans, 
free trade in labor (derisively referred to as "outsourcing") results in 
net gains for both parties involved the trade. Furthermore, as per the 
rule of comparative advantage, free trade results in allocations of 
labor to its most productive use within the society (achievable in the 
absence of perfect knowledge of preferences). Therefore, free trade in 
labor is a net gain, for the employer, the employees, and for third 
parties (i.e. the society at large).

Of course, the lazy, and the inefficient might have to mend their ways, 
or temporarily accept lower standard of living (until the increased 
productivity trickles down even to them in the form of welfare and 
charity) - but I see it as a gain, too.

Rafal