Tech's push to teach coding isn't about kids' success – it's about cutting wages

Yes, it's about labor costs. All else equal, more supply = lower price.

I thought it was already well known that the whole push for teaching kids to code as well as all the other initiatives to increase diversity was all about expanding the labor supply.

I sincerely believe we need a higher level of literacy around computers.

If you look at historical trends, 14th century Milan - knowing how to add and subtract was a specialized skill; General reading and writing skills coincided with the availability of general formal education; In the 1970s, typing pools disappeared, and any worker is expected to be able to not only read and write, but type. Not long after that, ability to operate a computer becomes an entry level skill. Like it or not, the ability to automate work that you are a domain expert without going through intermediaries like business analyst and programmers ought to be a basic skill. It might not be "coding" as we know it, but it'll involve some ability to reason and compose basic operations.

I thought that was obvious?

That's because we, individually, already have enough bargaining power or so we've been led to believe, at least.