Indeed Miss Cellania. In the words of author Robert Heinlein:
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
I'm still working on a few of these, but I keep knocking them off...
Hmmmm, while I'm sympathetic to a few aspects of his testimony, the fact of the matter is that there is a free market for labor. If there are not enough people developing skills to do "job X" (whatever X may be), you simply are not paying them enough, offering steady employment, &c.. *In aggregate* (not necessarily singly) workers are rational -- they evaluate options against alternatives and train for where their total rewards are best. Big portion of this are pay, benefits, and employment certainty.
So, when I hear about a reputed shortage of skilled engineers for example (GM's onetime CEO once testified to this effect), I say "bollocks". What they really mean is that "there is a shortage of skilled people who are willing to work for what I want to pay". If you, Mr. CEO, want a better supply of engineers, you need to start their pay higher and keep raising it with experience. THAT alone will encourage people to enter the profession (and stay there). When people find that their careers stagnate or steady employment is hard to maintain, word gets out and millions of kids learn (or are told from their parents that X is a bad career choice). If most lawyers were starving, there wouldn't be so many of them.
It's exactly the same thing with these vocational trades. Certainly some plumbers, roofers, &c. can do pretty well (especially if they own their own business), but there are tons of them just getting by working for big firms in crowded markets. If you want to attract good people to these fields, you need to make it MORE attractive than their other options.
Don't worry, the supply will follow the demand. If the net benefits of being a plumber exceed those of being a lawyer, we'll have a lot more plumbers. It's pretty simple, really ... there doesn't need to be government tinkering/meddling to "fix" this.
I just noticed that Stacy thinks coal is not a major source of energy in the U.S.
Ooops, she'd get a minus-1 on that question. It might not be used much for *residential* heating anymore, but it's still a major energy source. About one-half of U.S. electricity is produced from coal.
If some other Tesla owner beat you to the punch with "Nikola", "1 Nikola", "2 Nikola",&c. don't try to get clever by spelling it "Nicola". Everyone is just going to think you are a moron. I sure would.
@Craig - Because his upper leg and knee were removed. The lower leg and foot were OK, so they were attached ackwards so that his heel (now pointing frontwards) could function as a "knee" for him.
Go get 'em Dugan! The kid has spunk. All my best for him!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_Advanced_Technology_Telescope
Clap on, clap off, the clapper.
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
I'm still working on a few of these, but I keep knocking them off...
So, when I hear about a reputed shortage of skilled engineers for example (GM's onetime CEO once testified to this effect), I say "bollocks". What they really mean is that "there is a shortage of skilled people who are willing to work for what I want to pay". If you, Mr. CEO, want a better supply of engineers, you need to start their pay higher and keep raising it with experience. THAT alone will encourage people to enter the profession (and stay there). When people find that their careers stagnate or steady employment is hard to maintain, word gets out and millions of kids learn (or are told from their parents that X is a bad career choice). If most lawyers were starving, there wouldn't be so many of them.
It's exactly the same thing with these vocational trades. Certainly some plumbers, roofers, &c. can do pretty well (especially if they own their own business), but there are tons of them just getting by working for big firms in crowded markets. If you want to attract good people to these fields, you need to make it MORE attractive than their other options.
Don't worry, the supply will follow the demand. If the net benefits of being a plumber exceed those of being a lawyer, we'll have a lot more plumbers. It's pretty simple, really ... there doesn't need to be government tinkering/meddling to "fix" this.
Ooops, she'd get a minus-1 on that question. It might not be used much for *residential* heating anymore, but it's still a major energy source. About one-half of U.S. electricity is produced from coal.
Because his upper leg and knee were removed. The lower leg and foot were OK, so they were attached ackwards so that his heel (now pointing frontwards) could function as a "knee" for him.
Go get 'em Dugan! The kid has spunk. All my best for him!