Unpaid Interns

I noted with interest this blog which is mainly about shaming places that advertise for unpaid internships. It's an issue that comes up every time the economy is weak. There are at least three sides to the issue: first, it's just supply and demand: if you can get people to work for free, why would you pay someone? The second side is whether it is in our interest to let companies bid the price of labor so low. Volunteer labor depresses everyone's wages. The most important issue, however, is related to social justice because only a small segment of the population has access to these opportunities: people that have to support themselves are excluded because they can't afford to work for free.

We need to insist that the US economy gets run to create full employment. We could do that -- the money is there -- The Rich just have all the money, mainly due to globalization and the destruction of the labor movement. If we had full employment and a strong labor movement, you wouldn't see many free internships and, if you did, you probably wouldn't care.