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Old 02-06-2010, 03:45 PM   #46 (permalink)
Baraka_Guru
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roachboy View Post
i've thought for a long time that a universal minimum wage a good idea because it would erase the incentives that underpin the present arrangement (subcontractors located in places with lowest wages, usually most repressive conditions in terms of organizing etc have a competitive advantage assuming technology as neutral...the buyer of course has no responsibility for anything, mere pursues enlightened self-interest in that grand selfblinding american way)---and it would make distance/transport a different kind of problem than it now is...so what i think would result is a fragmentation of the present arrangement---which would create "redundant" production systems because it would make production/distribution more regionally oriented. so i think a universal minimum wage would be a good thing for job creation. i would imagine that the state can and should play an active role in making sure that this is the outcome too.
An interesting aspect of this whole idea is that it might not need to come to that, this idea of a universal minimum wage to reorganize production. It might simply happen due to peak oil and when demand finally picks up again, forcing prices to spiral out of control to the point where companies can only make production and distribution work on a localized scale. Then we will see the disappearance of burgeoning trade shipments from Asia. We've already seen a shift to local food production and consumption, based mainly on environmental concerns. Peak oil may force it for most of commerce one day for entirely different reasons.
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Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 02-06-2010 at 03:48 PM..
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