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Comment by s1artibartfast | Hacker News Reader

Workers aren't monolithic.

I'll be the first to admit that the disadvantages outweigh the benefits for specific workers. NAFTA sucked for autoworkers. H1B visas suck for IT and software workers.

I think other types of workers benefit more than the portrait you paint, and not just the capital owners.

Unless you are a utilitarian (I'm not), I agree there is a valid debate on how much policy should disadvantage a small group for "the greater good".

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Sure, I benefit that a washing machine costs $600 instead of $6000. That benefit is small in comparison with if my yearly income would be double. In almost all possible scenarios, higher wages are better than cheaper goods. You cannot improve your economic situation by purchasing cheap consumer goods, but you can do it with higher income.

Sure, but $600 washing machines for 300 million Americans is a hell of a lot more benefit than your one income.

And double yearly income for 150 million working Americans is a hell lot more benefit for them than the $600 washing machine.

Indeed. And we should absolute pick that if we are presented with those two options.

All market effects are exponential. Of course a doubled salary is unrealistic, but not ridiculous. The generation of people who are elderly today, had more than double the salary of anybody who is a worker today. Yes, they had more expensive consumer goods, but they could instead afford the important things: land, houses, vehicles and have a surplus to invest.

> H1B visas suck for IT and software workers.

H1b only sucks for short sighted people. Places like India would in any case have more software engineers available, than the US. Moving and hiring best of Indian engineers in the US kept teams operating in the US from being offshored wholesale.

Software isn't a car, doesn't require physical transportation.

An understaffed team in the US would be worth less than an offshore team with offshoring overhead.

I am an individual not a corporation, our interest don't align in this manner.

They are saying that your individual salary would be lower without the additional talent.

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