On Mon, Oct 22, at 10:27AM, Tim May wrote: | This is one of the problems with the whole "Economics" prize. There's | not even a prize in _mathematics_, fer chrissake, so why one in | _economics_? Alfred Nobel certainly did not endow an economics prize. | (The econ prize gets its money from some other source.) | | The Econ prize was only established in the 70s, and now the prize | committee is reaching down deeper into the ranks. | | Maybe it's time for them to admit that creating the prize was a | political move in the first place and it should now be retired, or cut | back to a prize only when it is really warranted. The time for that is past...look at the priye winners this year to see a list of people, none of which did any work which was entirely original. (disclaimer, i am talking about econ and sciences as i havent seen anything on the other people.) | Most chip and computer engineers are not unionized (the union meaning, | not the plasma meaning). This works well. | | Some engineers have formed professional societies. These are _nominally_ | to "ensure professional standards." But critics point to their role as a | rate-limiting, rent-seeking group. Doctors and lawyers, most notably, | use professional societies as unions. If the "society" is in fact for the purpose of creating a common market agreed upon standard, then it is a good thing, if it imposes standards on third parties who are not willing to comply to those standards, either organiyation is a Bad Thing(tm). | The blue-collar worker also has a fair amount of "bargaining power." He | is paid less, usually, but his relative value to the employer is what he | is paid. A machine tool worker may not have much power to "demand more | money," but neither does an engineer, or even a security expert! Too bad the blue-collar workforce doesnt figure this out for themselves, rather than bitching they are poorly treated. | The traditional labor union threatens mass action, typically a strike or | walkout or slowdown. The usual theory is that this protects them from | retaliation because a plant would have to fire _all_ striking workers, | with dire consequences for them. | | This is false, as factories can and do move to other states, other | nations. As well it should. Money goes where it is well treated. If the striking workers would prefer to do with no paycheck and having the right to go on strike, that is their choice. I have a problem when laws mandate that the business not do this or be fined. That is fucked up in my mind. Equal rights for all, not just for the workers. | (The U.S. was a low-wage haven compared to England, in textiles. It also | "stole" the intellectual property of the mills in England. Ironically, | the same southern states (Georgia, South Carolina, etc.) that complain | so viciously about the Asian and Mexican factories were _themselves_ | beneficiaries of the move of factories from New England mill towns to | their states. Largely to escape unions and reduce labor costs. Irony | squared and cubed.) The US was also founded on the same principles which the government is now desperately trying to destroy. I dont foresee the southern states realiying that hypocrisy is their practice. --Gabe -- Churchill, Winston Leonard Spencer --On the eve of Britain's entry into World War II: "If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may be even a worse fate. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.