> While that's true, there is some market clearing price in which the activity just ceases to exist.
The article cites a mechanic commenting on Ford CEO's remarks on lack of mechanics by referring to how Ford fails to pay rates for warranty repairs that justify the volume of work required to pull them off.
This suggests the root cause is the automaker's refusal to pay for warranty work at a market rate.
The article raises some points on how Ford both designed cars that are too expensive to repair and fails to pay mechanics to make their product line attractive for any maintenance business. This doesn't sound like a market efficiency issue.
Not just market rate, but being totally wrong! My read of that article is that it's not gonna take 40 minutes to do the job, but because Ford says it'll take that long, that's what they're getting paid for. It seems like the bigger issue is that Ford gets to say how long it will take and what they say isn't remotely right. There's similar weirdness with flight attendants and how they get paid, because they don't get paid if they're not in the air, or something like that. If you zoom out, it's about not being willing to pay enough money, and at that level you'd be right. But if we zoom in a little, the ways in which they're not getting paid enough is also relevant. If I want to get paid for a honest days worth of work, everyone else all the way to the top better also be honest. It sucks when they're not, but as long as my paycheck cashes, I've got better things on my plate to contend with.