>> ...Fundamentally, wages are determined by supply and demand,...


> Economists of the first rank have rejected this claim. Here's four:
> Thorstein Veblen, John Maynard Keynes, Nikolas Kaldor, and Piero
> Sraffa.  Even first rate Neoclassicals have known of serious problems
> with his claim, e.g. Alfred Marshall, Knut Wicksell, Paul Samuelson,
> and Frank Hahn.


I am quite aware of the discrepancies between the workings of labour
markets and supply and demand metaphor, Mr. Vienneau (my field is,
after all, labour economics).  However, it remains true that supply
and demand is still a useful paradigm for filtering information
from labour markets, and that the key insights from such analysis
are still valid despite the labour market's unique characteristics.
I very much doubt any of the economists you name would have any problem
with that analysis.  Further, what I was trying to get at in the sound 
bite you quoted out of context was the decentralized nature of labour 
market outcomes, as opposed the centralized process the original poster 
implied.



>> ...Hence, salaries should *not* ``reflect
>> that importance,'' and misguided government attempts to rectify 
>> this perceived problem will likely lead to massive resource
>> misallocation.


> Arguments for reactionary politics almost always fall into a few
> rhetorical forms, whatever the context. This suggests they need not
> be taken seriously.


I hardly think that pointing out that salaries should not be set by
the government acording to some arbitrary criterion of ``importance''
falls into the realm of ``reactionary polictics.''  I would be most
fascinated if you could name a single economist, living or dead, from
any polictical or economic school of thought, who would disagree with
that statement.  I would further find your own reasons for disgreeing
with that statement endlessly fascinating, much as I would be interested
to know why you feel the need to label anything you disagree with
``reactionary politics.''


> What *are* they teaching these days in American (?) universities?


Modern economics.  Perhaps you might want to sit in on a few classes,
you'd undoubtedly learn a great deal.