Principles of Microeconomics / Unit 16 MIC 1517 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Wages, Distribution and Standards
Captions available
The idea
Trade raises productivity, shifting labor demand right and the average wage up; it also shifts demand from import-competing to exporting industries, so the distribution moves. Whether harm concentrates on the low-skilled is contested.
In practice
Forced labor is widely rejected; low wages with worse alternatives are a different question.
Where people slip
What minimum standards should hold everywhere is a different question from restricting trade.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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