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Noah Smith 🐇

5 Jan, 4 tweets, 1 min read

The terms "low-skilled" and "high-skilled" are insulting, yes. But somebody give me a better way to say "possessing skills that command a high premium in the labor market" vs. "not possessing such skills" without typing those phrases out every time.

And some people are responding that I should just say "low-wage" vs. "high-wage" but this is absolutely wrong. I'm talking about PEOPLE, not jobs. A PhD student waiting tables is low-wage, but not "low-skill". So that isn't going to work.

https://mobile.twitter.com/besttrousers/status/1478847591693570048

Also, "just don't think about this distinction" really isn't going to fly here either, as earnings potential matters for all kinds of policy decisions.

https://mobile.twitter.com/besttrousers/status/1478847591693570048

I mean, I guess the best proxy is "more educated" vs. "less educated", since education is a decent proxy for skills-based earning potential.

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Noah Smith 🐇

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These slides by @ramez are the most optimistic, exciting thing you'll see today. Maybe all week. Maybe all year.

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1/Let's revisit my post from January 6, 2021: "Japanese lessons for the American coup".

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If America is going to succeed and thrive economically, we absolutely need to keep bringing in immigrants.

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https://twitter.com/oliverwkim/status/1478798109236862977

This is a pretty awesome tool!

https://twitter.com/oliverwkim/status/1478798109236862977

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