> Whenever you hear there's a "shortage" of a particular job, that usually just means wages are higher than the employers would like them to be. You can really think of that relationship either way around. e.g. – there's a huge shortage of butlers because they're just way too expensive.

This sentiment comes from the idea that businesses facing a "shortage" can always hire good candidates by just raising their salaries. That is true, but it does not disprove a shortage--it just proves that good employees can be recruited from competitors if the wage is high enough. But if there actually is a shortage, all that does is move the shortage around.

There's also the issue of what is a sustainable salary expense in a given industry. Sure Inova could staff up with top-notch nurses if it paid them all $300k per year. But then how much would they have to charge patients to stay in business?

In the end, this a fun and easy argument to make because it requires no actual data about a given industry--just a preconception that businesses are cheap and manipulative. (Which they sometimes are--but again, that doesn't mean there's not a shortage.)