#wage competition

Without a planned economy, there is no way to ensure full employment.

Capitalism consistently operates under capacity. This means empty facilitates, full of productive machinery, while those who could operate it are unemployed.

That’s not an accident.

Competition for jobs drives wages down. If 1000 people are willing and able to fill one post, the employer can choose the cheapest from a large pool of workers, all undercutting the cost of each other’s labour to secure the job.

If there are only a handful of people to do a job, wages cannot be forced down as far.

Near-full employment would leave employers with a very small pool of potential workers, forcing wages to increase or stay the same.

The market drives unemployment, demanding the longest possible hours from the cheapest available labourers.