by From Lars Syll ZEIT: Today, the debate focuses on the labor shortages facing many industrialized countries. Angus Deaton: I am always cautious when people talk about a scarcity of labor but don’t talk about wages. The argument always is: Americans don’t want to do these jobs, Germans don’t want to do these jobs. So we have to have migrants. But in many cases, it is not that Germans or Americans don’t want to do these jobs, but that they don’t want to do them at the wages we can pay immigrants to do them. So maybe we should increase wages. It would not be a bad thing if lower-paid Americans got more money and improved their working conditions … ZEIT: If wages rise, it would likely get more expensive for you to fix the roof of your house. Deaton: Yes, indeed. People tell me their Danish
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from Lars Syll
ZEIT: Today, the debate focuses on the labor shortages facing many industrialized countries.
Angus Deaton: I am always cautious when people talk about a scarcity of labor but don’t talk about wages. The argument always is: Americans don’t want to do these jobs, Germans don’t want to do these jobs. So we have to have migrants. But in many cases, it is not that Germans or Americans don’t want to do these jobs, but that they don’t want to do them at the wages we can pay immigrants to do them. So maybe we should increase wages. It would not be a bad thing if lower-paid Americans got more money and improved their working conditions …
ZEIT: If wages rise, it would likely get more expensive for you to fix the roof of your house.
Deaton: Yes, indeed. People tell me their Danish friends can’t afford to put a new roof on their house because even if you correct for differences in purchasing power, it is much more expensive than in the U.S. But maybe that’s a price worth paying for a more equal and inclusive society. I am not saying that higher prices are in themselves a good thing and that we should get rid of migration altogether. But sometimes, cheap stuff and good wages are not compatible.
ZEIT: And when push comes to shove, you would prefer higher wages?
Deaton: Maybe we would live in a less efficient world if we had less immigration and less trade. Economists are obsessed with efficiency. Maybe my yard wouldn’t be as perfect. But maybe it would be a better world and there would be less political polarization.