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BigBeerBellyMan t1_jdv57ql wrote

Something I never understood: if the population is shrinking, why do they import workers instead of just scaling back production to accommodate the smaller population size?

For example, suppose you had a population of 100 people, and 25 of them would make 100 ice cream cones a day for everyone to have. Then if for some reason the population dropped to 80, why not just have 20 workers make 80 ice cream cones per day? Why is it necessary to import 20 workers to keep the population at 100?

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valkyrie_kk t1_jdv66kz wrote

because globally integrated economies are a little more complex than that

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nileb t1_jdv8iuy wrote

Are you going to explain how it is “doesn’t work like that” sufficient?

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2020BCray t1_jdv8u0m wrote

I imagine it's due to them trading with other nations, which results in certain amount of profit based on amount goods and service produced. If you reduce the workforce, your productivity drops, as a result you reduce the profit.

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instakill69 t1_jdvc66e wrote

And if it's a trade thing, you're getting back less product which is bad in every case when it's not something that people consume specifically.

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rpgalon t1_jdva5zo wrote

the developed world needs to import people so they can keep their high living standard without suffering from inflation in low paid jobs.

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M3G4MIND t1_jdv8oyz wrote

Because you don't have an even distribution between old and young people. In your example the population decrease from 100 to 80 would mean a drop in ice cream workers from 25 to maybe 15, meaning they wouldn't be able to make enough ice cream cones for the 80 people. It's the general issue that most of the western world is facing. Less young people to carry the work load and more old people requiring resources.

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Wwize t1_jdvdr50 wrote

Because scaling back production would hurt profits, and profits are more important than anything else to business owners.

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turbo-unicorn t1_jdxpl4n wrote

It's not even about profits. Lower production necessarily means higher prices, as inefficiencies increase, and demand per capita has increased in the past decades. Of course, this could be solved by people accepting a lower living standard, but somehow I don't think that's going to happen.

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utep2step t1_jdvjagn wrote

I mean this in a good way, not a righty way, because immigrants pay into and want social services that an 2nd, 3rd gen etc., aging population also demands from. Look at Russia which is facing a major problem: old population that is not getting replaced and with war pushing out the Russian young workforce to Kazakhstan or Europe or getting injured or killed in war, they are F’ed. Russians moms rely on what their son makes. Putin has now made bad to worse.

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lemonylol t1_jdx2vtl wrote

Because the demand for ice cream never changed.

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