Simply wanting something at a certain price and not being able to get it is not a shortage. There’s no shortage of penthouse suites at five star hotels just because I would like to stay in one but I’m only willing to pay $75 a night.

In economic terms, there is no shortage. There's a shortage in common parlance terms, sure. There is an easy solution - pay market rates. When people say there's a shortage of engineers, they mean there's a shortage of engineers at the price they're willing to pay.

Yes. And when people say there is a shortage of food, they mean "at the price they are willing to pay". But new engineers and new foodstuffs will not spring into existence when you add a zero to the price - therefore there is a shortage. You might want to say but oh, more people will become engineers if salaries are higher! But that doesn't ship products this summer.

There are often real food shortages because of price ceilings. Actual food shortages can be seen when the shelves are empty and food cannot be bought at any price.

No, they mean there is a greater lack of engineers compared to other occupations requiring similar levels of education and therefore we should put more effort into educating and importing engineers. Saying we shouldn't focus on getting more engineers in those cases is just dumb, the economy would greatly benefit, you just want to protect your currently privileged position at the cost of society as a whole.

There is a lack of people willing to work for less-than-market-prices in every occupation. I'm not against encouraging people to become engineers or hiring foreigners. But there's simply no shortage if it is possible to attract engineers by raising the salaries you're willing to pay; you're just too cheap. And the side benefit of increasing prices is not only lowering the quantity demanded from employers unwilling or unable to pay market rates, but also raising the quantity supplied by enticing more people into the field with higher salaries.

>No, they mean there is a greater lack of engineers compared to other occupations requiring similar levels of education and therefore we should put more effort into educating and importing engineers.

Importing engineers is just poaching engineers from other countries. It's the same thing.

Educating engineers is a matter of compensation. Given a high enough salary people will get the necessary degree. The only other thing you can do is cut education quality and just let more people pass.

To be fair, if engineers from other countries can earn more money in America, that's an indication that their skills are better put to use here than elsewhere.