Originally posted by gribbler
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Originally posted by gribbler View PostAt what point does a pool of workers become large enough that the cost of replacing them all would be too high and they should be broken up?
1) We should structure rules so that the entry of new participants into any given market is as easy as possible, whether that be as suppliers of labor, consumers of labor or suppliers of ****ing widgets
2) Rules which do NOTHING MORE than facilitate groups of people in their quest to restrict entry to a given market (e.g. providing legal enforcement of carteling or unionization) are destructive
3) Other rules which bind together people or capital in groups (e.g. enforcing partnership agreements, worker-ownership or incorporation) provide the legal structure necessary for productive organization, given that piecework contracting is usually unfeasible at the level of the individual laborer.12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
Stadtluft Macht Frei
Killing it is the new killing it
Ultima Ratio Regum
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Originally posted by Kuciwalker View PostWhat does that even mean?12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
Stadtluft Macht Frei
Killing it is the new killing it
Ultima Ratio Regum
Comment
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For example, a union of ten members, representing the only people allowed to operate a given multimillion dollar machine is essentially a labor market monopoly, while Google, with a couple of hundred billion dollars in market cap is not a monopolist or monopsonist, because there exist close substitutes for employment and services.12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
Stadtluft Macht Frei
Killing it is the new killing it
Ultima Ratio Regum
Comment
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Originally posted by gribbler View PostI don't see how a union of all of the employees at a company would necessarily be a monopoly. The company can hire other people who don't currently work at the company, so the people currently working at the company are not the sole supplier.
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There are two important propositions which have been discussed here, by the way:
1) Unions are organizations dedicated to extracting monopoly rents from employers
2) Unions are declining in importance in the private labor market in the US/Canada
We have covered the reasoning behind (1). As for (2), this is an obvious empirical fact for anybody who wishes to look at the data. The more interesting question is "why". The answer, to those who aren't polemicists consists of the following observations:
a) Unions can only extract rents when producers have large sunk costs (e.g. they have purchased machinery, factories, trains, planes, etc), which protect union firms from startups which can compete effectively before they themselves get unionized
b) The industries which most conform to this description are in heavy industry (large-scale manufacturing, heavy freight)
c) These industries are also mostly in the tradable goods sector of the economy
d) Less consumption is focused in these industries now than previously
e) There is increased non-union competition in these industries now than previously (both in North America in previously relatively underdeveloped regions like the South and from outside North America in very underdeveloped nations)
Thus union labor market monopoly is less effective than previously because there is more competition on the supply side of the economy.12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
Stadtluft Macht Frei
Killing it is the new killing it
Ultima Ratio Regum
Comment
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Originally posted by gribbler View PostI don't see how a union of all of the employees at a company would necessarily be a monopoly. The company can hire other people who don't currently work at the company, so the people currently working at the company are not the sole supplier.12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
Stadtluft Macht Frei
Killing it is the new killing it
Ultima Ratio Regum
Comment
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Originally posted by gribbler View PostWhat if an employer decides a single person is irreplaceable? How narrowly can you define a "labor market"?12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
Stadtluft Macht Frei
Killing it is the new killing it
Ultima Ratio Regum
Comment
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Are you ready to talk about lazy people yet? Beat a union worker with seniority. I dare you.Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.
"Hating America is something best left to Mobius. He is an expert Yank hater.
He also hates Texans and Australians, he does diversify." ~ Braindead
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Gribby, I wouldn't be so mean to you if WE HADN'T RECENTLY COVERED THIS EXACT SAME GROUND IN ANOTHER THREAD.
Arguing with you is like dealing with the guy from ****ing Memento.12-17-10 Mohamed Bouazizi NEVER FORGET
Stadtluft Macht Frei
Killing it is the new killing it
Ultima Ratio Regum
Comment
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