ok, so im trying to understand how we wouldnt need labor laws in a free market. what about unsafe work conditions? and child labor?
any good books i should get?
What are the parameters for an unsafe working condition?
To paraphrase Marc Faber: We're all doomed, but that doesn't mean that we can't make money in the process. Rabbi Lapin: "Let's make bricks!" Stephan Kinsella: "Say you and I both want to make a German chocolate cake."
Does anyone prefer to work in unsafe over safe? What does competition entail?
The real history of the industrial revolution in England is one in which workplace conditions improved as a natural function of the market, and government regulations followed as a function of an already acquired general sentiment being taken advantage of by political spin-doctors looking to further their own interests.
Suppose a miner could work for employer A @ $100,000 a year and for employer B @ 90,000 a year because the first one does not spend as much money on safety. Which one would the miner choose?
As stated, there is no objectively right answer. The second employer may be spending money on all sorts of marginal safety issuses and procedures that the miner considers to not be worthwhile. Or, the qualititative difference in the two work-places may such that the miner thinks it is well worth taking home $10,000 less in pay.