The cost of housing the inmates is borne by the taxpayers. The profit from the labor is reaped by the corporations.
From a company’s perspective, you have rock bottom labor costs but you can sell your product at whatever price the market will bear.
You’re considering “the economy” as a single unit but it’s not. The public and private spheres have very different interests, and the private sphere is generally much more powerful.
Outside jobs can be coveted because they typically pay more and some states deposit a small percentage earned into a savings account for prisoners’ eventual release.
Who takes the rest? The prison.
Look up what these jobs produce and how they are remunerated.
You fantastically missed the point.
From a company’s perspective, you have rock bottom labor costs but you can sell your product at whatever price the market will bear.
You’re considering “the economy” as a single unit but it’s not. The public and private spheres have very different interests, and the private sphere is generally much more powerful.
Piecework by convicts is rarely quality
True, but the margins are still fantastic, despite the lower selling price of the goods due to lower quality.
It doesn’t need to be quality.
https://apnews.com/article/prison-to-plate-inmate-labor-investigation-c6f0eb4747963283316e494eadf08c4e#:~:text=Almost all of the country’s,hour if anything at all.
Who takes the rest? The prison.
Look up what these jobs produce and how they are remunerated.