Economics #2 - Labor

A four-day tour into Economics!! Today - LABOR

Okay, I wanted to stop my look at history for a few days.  Another item I have wanted to write on for a while is economics.

Yesterday, I looked at Land.  Today on the second factor of economic production:  Labor.

I reason that the two oldest economic factors are land and labor.  Land is the economic use of the land - to grow crops, for livestock, for minerals and ores.  Labor is the economic use of labor.

Labor means the use of people for creating economic value.  If you think about that, if you work for a company, you are “labor” to that company.  Even if you work for yourself, you are “labor” to yourself.

I Timothy 5:18 “For Scripture says, "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages."

These days and times, it can be hard to determine a workman’s wages.  Is Lynette more valuable than Ron? Should Kristof get paid more than Jeffrey?  (Should Karen get paid the same as Bruce?)  

One of the best ways to pay a good wage is based on experience and academic background.  A person with 10 years of work experience and an MBA should get more than a person with 5 years of work experience without an MBA.  

In the United States today, we have the EEOC - Equal Employment Opportunity Commission who has stated: “The Equal Pay Act requires that men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for equal work. The jobs need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal. Job content (not job titles) determines whether jobs are substantially equal.”

People should get paid appropriately.  But, people are to use their talents effectively. 

Colossians 3:24 says “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men”

*****

Karen’s thoughts on work.

I always liked work.  From my first job (newspaper carrier for the Cedar Rapids Gazette) to my recent jobs (election clerk and tutoring), I have liked my work, enjoyed the people I have worked with (mostly) and tried to give a dollar's worth of value to the dollars I was getting paid.  Actually, as I reflect on that, I really wanted to go ‘over-and-above’ what I was getting paid. As a professor, that meant being an advisor to clubs, playing in the pep band, going to athletic and other events on campus. It also meant responding to emails and phone calls quickly.  It meant giving advice to students and being their “coach”. I’ve had students over to my house frequently with pizza parties and more. I had a Christmas Party at our house in Madison every year. In Hamden, I entertained my students at our house plus the Pep Band and fraternity guys.

It might be part of that Judeo-Christian heritage - “Do unto others as you would have them do to you”.  I didn’t complain about my pay. (I rarely complain about anything).

Since I am already on Judeo-Christian values, there is a parable of a King who is going away and gives ten “talents” (or pieces of gold) to one person, five to a second person and one to a third person  When he returns, the one with ten had made ten more - or twenty “talents”; the one with five had made five more, but the one who was only given one talent, buried it in the ground. The King rewards the first two but sends the last into prison.  If I have “talents” or gold or whatever, I’m to use them appropriately. Work “over-and-above”.

The economics factor of labor can be difficult to analyze.  There are some companies who ‘cheat’ their employees by not paying them enough.  The old song “Sixteen Tons” talks about working in the coal mine and basically being abused financially.  

I also believe that if you are not getting paid enough, just keep working and going over-and-above and eventually you will be rewarded - by that company or by another company who will “steal” you away because you are an awesome worker!!!

There is (obviously) much more to labor, including labor laws, fairness, justice, unions, but this was at least an exposure to what Karen thinks about the second form of economic production - labor.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at the third economic factor - capital (that is, money).

Hugs!!

Karen