In this essay, analysis of the chapter “Two Oedipal Markets” will be done. The main thesis in the chapter is employment. Some of the main ideas that have been used to support the main argument are optimism, capitalism, and economist in the labor markets. The chapters discuss the wage bargaining distort the availability of employment in the labor market. The author terms “employment deniers” refers to the employers who believe that the person labor can produce any value for the employer. Besides, the chapter portrays the idea that money and labor are the sources of evil in the labor market.
The main argument that has been brought out by the author is that the labor market is two-sided. The author explains finding employment will always be tough. The author gives an example of his friend Wasily who holds Ph.D. in economics. He has been struggling to find a job. According to the author, the labor market is two-sided. One side is the person seeking the employment, and the other hand is the employer. Each side has its preference; the individual seeking employment are optimistic to get a job that will pay better and be able to buy all the kinds of stuff they need. According to the author, work can only result from matching. The matching should result in the employer getting the labor at the desired value and the employee accepting the offer made by the employer.
I find this interesting. I had never looked at the market in the way the author portrays it in the chapter. The more I analyzed the “Two Oedipal Markets,” the more I could apply his argument in real life. I realized that most of the job seekers always anticipate a bigger salary that will enable them to buy different stuffs in life. These high salaries are associated with big companies and people apply more to these companies leaving the small markets. The result is that you will find more people competing for one position. From this chapter, I think I would like to explore the factors that affect the labor market such as polarization.
