Exactly, and allowing that ebb and flow of the market to work is a good thing. As other people pointed out, it's not like there wouldn't be grocery store staff and that's the end of it. The demand is still there. And when the supply is low but the demand stays the same, the wages go up. All of these things are connected and tend towards an equilibrium.
The thing that keeps things from flowing properly are artificial regulations. For example, artificially low housing (like gov subsidized) in expensive areas make it so low income people can work in high income places for low wages. They can't afford to eat at the restaurants (or buy other higher income things local to the area), but they can afford to work at them. The regulation is artificially boosting supply to match demand so wages do not trend upwards.
> As other people pointed out, it's not like there wouldn't be grocery store staff and that's the end of it. The demand is still there. And when the supply is low but the demand stays the same, the wages go up.
The reality is that this doesn't happen when it gets really bad. A few real-world examples:
Nebraska had (as of December 2016) 11 counties without a lawyer[0].
In California, when immigrant labor started getting deported, celery farmers kept increasing wages to attract new labor, and even after more than doubling their wages, couldn't get enough people to pick all the celery.[1]
>Nebraska had (as of December 2016) 11 counties without a lawyer[0].
A court-appointed attorney is a constitutional right (6th amendment). The government guarantees you will have the option of legal representation if accused of a crime, and you can take it all the way to the Supreme Court if you don't get that.
>In California, when immigrant labor started getting deported, celery farmers kept increasing wages to attract new labor, and even after more than doubling their wages, couldn't get enough people to pick all the celery.
Then wages weren't high enough. It really is that simple. And if the farmer can't get anyone to buy the celery priced high enough to support the costs of labor, then he shifts away from labor intensive crops, or outsources the crops, which is exactly what the article says he did. This is a healthy functioning market, responding to supply and demand pressures. And $$$ awaits the man or woman who invents a cheaper way to harvest celery at lower labor costs.
The thing that keeps things from flowing properly are artificial regulations. For example, artificially low housing (like gov subsidized) in expensive areas make it so low income people can work in high income places for low wages. They can't afford to eat at the restaurants (or buy other higher income things local to the area), but they can afford to work at them. The regulation is artificially boosting supply to match demand so wages do not trend upwards.