Thread: What Hillary supporters Heard Last Night
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Old 08-27-2008, 07:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Southpaw View Post
It does seem rather logical that unions drive up the cost of labor and companies are always looking for cheaper sources of labor.

Therefore, unions probably do have the effect of outsourcing more jobs.

Do you have evidence to prove that this seemingly simple and obvious connection is not correct?

Yes I do:

Quote:
For the first time in the past quarter of a century, in 2007 U.S. unions increased their share of membership among workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) annual union membership report released today. Unions added about 310,000 members last year, raising the unionized share of the workforce to 12.1 percent from 12.0 percent in 2006.

The increase is small, and may well reflect statistical variation rather than an actual increase in the union membership share, but the uptick is striking because it is the first time since the BLS began collecting annual union membership rates in 1983 that the union share has increased.

The small national rise in union membership rates reflected a large increase in union membership in California, partially offset by substantial declines in the Midwest.
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/data-b...rease-in-2007/

Quote:
For all those in the US who were shouting themselves hoarse about the evils of globalization, there’s some good news. The manufacturing jobs that were lost to the countries in Asia may just return. No, I am not kidding. I think we are just past that bend where companies might evaluate moving manufacturing & other outsourced services back to US. That’s the good news. The not so good news is it will not happen overnight. It will take some time. Ceteris paribus, I expect it to see the first trickle in the reverse direction in 7 to 10 years. Here’s why I think so.
http://www.iqi-sm.com/blog/index.php...the-us-part-1/

Using your own "aww shucks" logic: As transportation costs increase, the savings afforded by cheap labor half a world away decreases or goes away, depending on the product, making US jobs more attractive. The weak dollar has a similar effect.

Prove me wrong.
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