@ Kapitein A

So, I must assume that your comment on "labor shortage" was not a sarcastic one.  If so, it is a faulty one. 

There cannot be a labor shortage if markets are allowed to operate, i.e. allowed to 'clear'.   "Below-replacement fertility rates and a declining population" do not fundamentally change the picture. They will induce adjustments on all sides of the market, e,g, they will lead to more capital subsitituting for labor, they will raise wages at the lower-end of the skills-range and thus attract some 'new' labor into the market (many possibilities), the higher wages will also help to restrain demand for that kind of labor, etc....

It is somewhat disconcerting how the ideological discourse in much of western media seems to be undermining common sense and to be fostering a lack of understanding of how markets operate.  How else could one 'explain' a number of the current ruling dogmas, e.g. nonsensical beliefs in the (net) beneficial economic effects of unskilled or low-skilled immigrants, in the acclamation for so-called 'fair trade' proposals by trade unions, in blaming the rich world for the poverty of the poor world, and other economic nonsense...?  

marcfrans: There cannot be a shortage of low-skilled labor, if (labor) markets are allowed to operate.  Such "shortages", if they do appear to exist, are artificially created by government policies (like minimum wage laws, welfare provisions, etc...).  This is even more so, in cases where immigration laws are not enforced so that local labor markets (at the lower end of the skills-scale) are effectively 'merged' with the world market.

Such shortages can also be caused by below-replacement fertility rates and a declining population. Moreover, Western populations and governments are so far unwilling to allow the price of labor to rise as was the case after the Black Death. Moreover, people are also required to fill moderate and high-skill positions...

marcfrans: I am sure that you realise that there is no "shortage", but rather a massive surplus, of "low-skills" at the world level.

Obviously.

@ Kapitein Andre

There cannot be a shortage of low-skilled labor, if (labor) markets are allowed to operate.  Such "shortages", if they do appear to exist, are artificially created by government policies (like minimum wage laws, welfare provisions, etc...).  This is even more so, in cases where immigration laws are not enforced so that local labor markets (at the lower end of the skills-scale) are effectively 'merged' with the world market.  I am sure that you realise that there is no "shortage", but rather a massive surplus, of "low-skills" at the world level.

The question remains, do you really believe what you write, or is it meant sarcastically?

Scotland On Sunday: Sex education lessons should be given to schoolchildren as young as five as part of a bid to combat soaring levels of teenage pregnancy and sexual disease, Scotland's most senior public health doctor said last night.

If Saunders and his ilk succeed, from where is Scotland to derive its low-skilled labor base?

Scotland On Sunday: Scotland's sexual health record is one of the poorest in the western world. Teenage pregnancies are on the rise with 9,040 in 2005, the latest year for which figures are available, compared with 8,891 in 2004. Cases of sexually transmitted diseases are also rising. In April to June this year, Scottish laboratories saw 4,715 cases of chlamydia – up 6% from 4,468 in January to March.

How is this "poor"? Increasing pregnancy rates are accompanied by increasing contractions of sexually transmitted infections, which, though unfortunate, are not surprising. It is amusing that Scotland's "sexual health record" is taken in the context of the "western world", which suffers from apalling fertility rates. Perhaps fertility rates should take precedence over STIs and teenage pregnancies when determining the grade on a country's sexual report card.

The Leftist intelligentsia has feverishly worked for decades to dismantle those values and institutions that ensured the provision of a socio-economic structure to support pregnancies: marriage. Naturally I am overlooking the numerous other positive aspects of marriage, as well as the negative ones. However, this unrelenting assault on Western value systems, albeit hypocritical and flawed ones, has led to unprotected teenage sex being saviour rather than sin. If authoritarian rule ever rears its ugly head in the West again, one might hope that our "virtuous dictator" takes it upon himself to send the tanks, APCs and bulldozers to the liberal arts departments of our academic institutions.