Labor Economics on the Front Page

The editors of The Washington Post probably do not see any connection between these two articles because journalists only rarely have studied labor economics.

Here’s the short story: the migrant group on the right are going to work hard, be more docile, be happier with lower wages, and are less likely to be any trouble.

But the group on the left are actually Americans. They need jobs and a second chance. A tighter labor market means that more employers are giving them a second chance. That’s good for America.

A tight labor market is not a bad thing; it raises wages, improves working conditions, and helps pull people up from the bottom of the economic ladder.