There are many loopholes with this logic, although I can see how the "free market will fixit!" philosophy is so common.
The unavailability of required talent does not magically make it economically feasible to pay more for that talent. Especially the process of hiring new employees is an expensive and slow process. The vitality of American businesses depends critically on the availability of great talent at a reasonable cost. And 130k seems like a really really huge expense, especially to non-silicon valley businesses.
> You can find plenty of that talent already in the country.
No you cannot. Sure the H1B is abused horse gets beat a lot and sure there is a lot of abuse. But what shouldn't be missed is that the H1B gives American companies access to a market of the best talent in the world, to allow them to hire that talent for themselves.
History has shown how diversity and pluralism, along with dynamic markets have contributed to the blooming of civilizations. It has also shown how jingoism and trade wars have led to their fall.
> The vitality of American businesses depends critically on the availability of great talent at a reasonable cost.
You could just as easily say that the vitality of American businesses depend on a well paid consumer class. Aka the people we're raising wages for.
> But what shouldn't be missed is that the H1B gives American companies access to a market of the best talent in the world, to allow them to hire that talent for themselves.
I'd find that persuasive if I hadn't worked with H1-Bs hired solely because they'd work more cheaply and for longer hours than their local counterparts. The current H1-B program on paper looks great. In practice, in my experience, it seems to be abused all to hell.
Well, if we are going by anecdotes, then all the H1B workers I know have been extremely talented, culturally assimilated, make more than 130k workers. Can you see why we don't rely simply on anecdotes in this forum?
I'm certainly not denying the existence of a problem. I am pointing out the flaw in your reasoning that simply raising the minimum salary will benefit American society (Businesses + Workers). It won't, because it will make them incapable of accessing the best talent at a reasonable rate.
I'm not sure how you're completing misreading what I'm saying. I also work with brilliant H1-B holders that surely make more than $130K and are worth every penny. Each of them have skills that simply aren't available nearby. That's what the system's meant for.
I have also seen it used in incredibly abusive ways. Bumping the minimum salary to $130K would remove the profit motive of using them to undercut the local labor market. Quite frankly, the best talent can command make more than $130K anyway. You think someone's going to pack up their family, move to another continent, and land in a small town in Iowa happy to make $50K?
> You think someone's going to pack up their family, move to another continent, and land in a small town in Iowa happy to make $50K
$50k is still a lot of money, especially to live in Iowa. And to answer your question: yes, there are people who would do that.
Perhaps I was not clear, it is my mistake. I'm not advocating keeping the minimum salary desperately low, or lowering it than what it currently is. 130k seems rather unreasonable though.
>The vitality of American businesses depends critically on the availability of great talent at a reasonable cost.
If the vitality of American business depends critically on keeping high-skilled labor as cheap as possible, then capitalism is a failure and we should throw it in the trash-heap of history.
The unavailability of required talent does not magically make it economically feasible to pay more for that talent. Especially the process of hiring new employees is an expensive and slow process. The vitality of American businesses depends critically on the availability of great talent at a reasonable cost. And 130k seems like a really really huge expense, especially to non-silicon valley businesses.
> You can find plenty of that talent already in the country.
No you cannot. Sure the H1B is abused horse gets beat a lot and sure there is a lot of abuse. But what shouldn't be missed is that the H1B gives American companies access to a market of the best talent in the world, to allow them to hire that talent for themselves.
History has shown how diversity and pluralism, along with dynamic markets have contributed to the blooming of civilizations. It has also shown how jingoism and trade wars have led to their fall.