April 8, 2011
By Robert L. Hale
4/6/2011
What does the loss of America’s manufacturing prowess have in common with the growing debt of states, counties, cities, and towns across America? Unions.
In 1971, during my first year of law school, the contracts professor informed us that private-sector union power was declining and would continue to do so. He said, “Watch what happens over the next several decades — unions will thrive by unionizing public employees.”
The decline of unions in the private sector was the result of their success in exacting concession after concession from private business, and it worked — for a while. It worked because the U.S. faced little serious competition in world markets, and companies were able to simply pass on the costs to consumers. As other nations became competitive, the weight of the excessive and unsustainable concessions resulted in industries in the U.S. either closing or moving out of the country. Read More
