Wages aren’t based on skills, they’re based on scarcity and want. You could be the best Ping-Pong champion in the world, and if nobody wants to watch Ping-Pong you probably won’t make a living playing the sport.

Alternatively, you could be a terrible construction worker, but if there’s a ...

When people refer to low-skill workers, the more precise term would be low-wage. There is nothing inherently unskilled about standing in a hot kitchen for hours cooking or picking countless pieces of fruit every day in the blistering heat.

This isn’t a pedantic distinction. The failure to u...

During a recession, the balance of power is in employers’ hands. Bosses knew that many people were out of work; they could stand to be picky when it came to hiring and so they demanded more credentials, complaining when applicants didn’t meet that high bar. Only when the labor market tilted in wo...

During the pandemic, the government has pursued expansionary fiscal and monetary policy. As a result, many workers have been empowered to find new and better jobs fueling the “Great Resignation” as they abscond from their employers for better opportunities. These workers did not suddenly become m...