Current Event: Week 2

Current Event Article: Skill Gaps in America’s Work Force
Jess Tourville
Endicott College

October 13, 2013
Managerial Economics
Richard Weissman
Summary
In the well written article Stubborn Skills Gap in America’s Work Force, the author Eduardo Porter describes how fictitious the idea of workers in America really is. When asking President Obama which country develops and breads the most skilled work force he said hands down the United States. Obama’s direct words about the work force were “more productive than any on earth” and they “build better products than anybody else.” Even the less boisterous Republicans were sure American workers could surpass any competition on any
If large corporations can’t hire from their respected country but can find workers with better skills who desire less money from other countries, why wouldn’t they take that route?
Analysis
A large economic concept in this current event article is supply and demand which is one of the most fundamental concepts and perhaps the backbone to a market economy. Supply represents how much the market can offer. In this case how many American workers can the U.S produce for companies looking to hire? The quantity supplied refers to the amount of a certain good producers are willing to supply when receiving a certain price. We are not talking products in this article but skillsets of people. The same concept still applies; we are paying very large wages for highly skilled workers yet the supply has not increased. American workers know if they are properly equipped both educationally and with the right skills they can make more money than workers at their equivalent position in any other country. Even with this the supply of workers has not increased over time, in fact it has decreased.
Demand refers to how much or the quantity of a product or service is desired by buyers. The quantity demanded is the amount of a product people are willing to buy at a certain price; in this case the amount employers are looking to pay a worker to fulfill a