I just love the perpetual bollocks about how the west is rigged in favour of the highly-educated and against the little man. It’s the complete fucking opposite. The educated have to compete globally for their labour and have had to do so for a very long time. Many countries even have a set minimum salary for immigrants before they let them in. The little guy however, is only just now being exposed to globalisation, and still in a rather limited fashion. You can’t move here from Bangladesh to become a street sweeper any more.
Andrew M
12 years ago
JamesV,
As ever it depends. Technical professionals such as engineers or software developers face global competition, but lawyers, accountants, doctors – any of the registered professions – only compete locally, and only then against a pool which is artificially restricted.
In Tim’s specific example of Portugal, I understand that even journalists aren’t allowed to practice without being registered by their official body. (This may have since been abolished: Portugal had a bonfire of regulations in 2011.)
Bangladeshi street sweepers may not be able to ply their trade internationally, but in London the minimum-wage jobs are occupied almost exclusively by immigrants. Most of the recent arrivals are from eastern and southern Europe; but before that we had waves of migration from the East and West Indies. They certainly have an impact on wages and employment prospects on the bottom rungs.
I just love the perpetual bollocks about how the west is rigged in favour of the highly-educated and against the little man. It’s the complete fucking opposite. The educated have to compete globally for their labour and have had to do so for a very long time. Many countries even have a set minimum salary for immigrants before they let them in. The little guy however, is only just now being exposed to globalisation, and still in a rather limited fashion. You can’t move here from Bangladesh to become a street sweeper any more.
JamesV,
As ever it depends. Technical professionals such as engineers or software developers face global competition, but lawyers, accountants, doctors – any of the registered professions – only compete locally, and only then against a pool which is artificially restricted.
In Tim’s specific example of Portugal, I understand that even journalists aren’t allowed to practice without being registered by their official body. (This may have since been abolished: Portugal had a bonfire of regulations in 2011.)
Bangladeshi street sweepers may not be able to ply their trade internationally, but in London the minimum-wage jobs are occupied almost exclusively by immigrants. Most of the recent arrivals are from eastern and southern Europe; but before that we had waves of migration from the East and West Indies. They certainly have an impact on wages and employment prospects on the bottom rungs.