Labour is no different than any other product or service. The price is established through the same properties of supply and demand like every other product and service.
The parent is suggesting that the price of labour should be rising because the jobs he listed have increased the demand for labour. However, the jobs he listed haven't actually impacted demand at all. The employers are not willing (or, perhaps, able) to pay the price necessary to get the desired workers, thus are, by definition, not demand.
Since they are not part of the demand for labour, they cannot be considered in this discussion of labour price at all.
I completely disagree. They absolutely can and should be considered. You're assuming that the employers are acting perfectly rationally, which is a fallacy. And the fact that they offer these positions, and that they would hire someone who does agree with what they're offering, DOES mean that they are part of the demand for labor.
Reasoning the way you are, you can hand wave away anything, making it appear as if there not only is not a lack of labor, but a surplus, implying that wages are too high. This is clearly not true. It is far, far more plausible that employers have become accustom to lower labor prices, and thus are hesitant to raise wages.
Okay, and I would like someone to build and operate for me an exact Facebook clone for $5. Since I have made a real offer here, I should also be counted right?
You don't see the importance of taking price into consideration?
> You're assuming that the employers are acting perfectly rationally, which is a fallacy.
Demand is characterized by price, not people talking about what they want to do. If there is no transaction to be made, there is no demand. It makes absolutely no difference if the actors are acting rationally or not.
> Reasoning the way you are, you can hand wave away anything
These are generally accepted terms. Perhaps there is some other word that describes what you are talking about, but it certainly isn't demand. Desire, perhaps? I think it is fair to say that the farmer desires help on the farm, or that the airline desires pilots, or that I desire a developer to build a Facebook clone. That is not the same as demanding it.
> making it appear as if there not only is not a lack of labor, but a surplus
There is a surplus of labour with respect to the demand for that labour. We don't count the people looking for Facebook clones for $5 as demand. If you did, then yes, the demand would outstrip the supply by a huge margin. But I feel like this should be pretty obvious why these jobs don't count as demand.
> It is far, far more plausible that employers have become accustom to lower labor prices, and thus are hesitant to raise wages.
Then why are employees also hesitant to increase labour prices? Is it simply because they too have gotten used to lower labour prices and don't want more? That sounds a little difficult to believe. Everyone I know would be ecstatic to make more money. There is always too sides to the transaction, so you cannot pin this on one side.
The more logical explanation is that if one labourer tried to raise their price, another labourer would swoop in and do the job for less. This can only happen when supply exceeds demand, not when people are already a struggle to find.
"Okay, and I would like someone to build and operate for me an exact Facebook clone for $5. Since I have made a real offer here, I should also be counted right?"
Now you're being ridiculous. We're not talking about people acting like that. We're talking about people who do desire labor, but aren't willing to raise their price. Someone who is offering $12 when the prevailing wage is $14 is clearly in the market.
Since you had to be that ridiculous in your opening, I can't imagine the rest of your post is in good faith.
> We're talking about people who do desire labor, but aren't willing to raise their price.
No, we're talking about demand. People who have the willingness and ability to pay what it takes to acquire the product or service they seek. Desire alone has no impact on price, and thus has no relevance to this particular thread.
> Someone who is offering $12 when the prevailing wage is $14 is clearly in the market.
Where are you gathering data that says someone will do the job for $14/hr? Just because someone doing a similar job for $14/hr does not mean someone else is willing to do this particular job for $14/hr, let alone $12/hr.
> Since you had to be that ridiculous in your opening, I can't imagine the rest of your post is in good faith.
Also known as my example taken to the logical extreme has helped you better understand the situation and the terminology used in economics. Glad that we're on the same page now.
