> Why is this? This sounds like a huge U.S. talent development problem. How does this visa change help to fix this issue?

It doesn’t, I’m against it.

> The very fact that the number of employed software engineers is expected to go up by 24% in a single year is the evidence you're looking for that there is a massive supply distortion in the labor market.

Yes... because the demand for software engineers is increasing every year and can’t keep up with supply.

>and can’t keep up with supply.

yes...the very definition of a labor distortion that drives down wages.

I feel like we can’t be reading the same thing. You’re saying that a market where there is more demand than supply is one where prices are lower? Again, I’m going to need a citation for that.

where did I say that prices are lower? I’m expressioning skepticism that a whopping 24% increase in hiring is due only to demand increases, which you heavily implied is the case. How much more would wages rise here if we weren’t artificially increasing the supply like this? We could certainly find out, if we wanted. But that would require some policy changes that are not popular to employers who are, incidentally, not interested in letting wages rise.

It makes for a good story but it's actually bullshit. There's no labor shortage in the sciences. There's just a shortage of companies willing to pay living wages.

https://archives.cjr.org/reports/what_scientist_shortage.php