Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Walker Wants to Save 12,000 Jobs; Unions Don't Want Them; Obama Group "Organizing for America" Bussed in Protesters; Walker too Generous to Unions

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Walker Wants to Save 12,000 Jobs; Unions Don't Want Them; Obama Group "Organizing for America" Bussed in Protesters; Walker too Generous to Unions: "If this was really 'about the kids' rather than about the greed and arrogance of the public unions, teachers would be in the classroom teaching instead of fraudulently calling in sick, with help of doctors aiding and abetting that fraud."

"The ideal approach is to end collective bargaining altogether. Public union workers who do not like their offers would have the same choice as everyone else: accept the job or leave.

Those who think they can make more in the private sector are free to do so. Yes, it really is as simple as that."

Real-World Cases Prove: Spending Restraint Works | Daniel J. Mitchell | Cato Institute: Commentary

Real-World Cases Prove: Spending Restraint Works | Daniel J. Mitchell | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Two percent annual spending increases would lead to fiscal balance by 2021. Limiting spending growth to 1% annually would balance the budget by 2019. A spending freeze would balance the budget by 2017."

Connecticut Town Ordered to Pay for Union Workers’ Coffee - FoxNews.com

Connecticut Town Ordered to Pay for Union Workers’ Coffee - FoxNews.com: "A Connecticut town must provide their union workers free coffee and milk, according to a ruling from the State Board of Labor Relations.�

The board also ordered town leaders to reinstate “Dress Down Fridays” for the union clerical and custodial workers.�"

The Smaller Fish Tries to Eat the Bigger Fish — Mises Economics Blog

The Smaller Fish Tries to Eat the Bigger Fish — Mises Economics Blog: "The very existence of UPS and Fed-Ex is something of a miracle, companies that were built up based on a loophole in the letter statutes that give the government itself a near-total monopoly on mail, or at least that was the idea. Private shipping companies found the workaround and ended up driving all the innovation in this industry that has taken place for decades. The Post Office is reduced to a pathetic game of catch up amidst constant threats of insolvency.

And yet we are asking the same government to adjudicate an antitrust suit in the private sector? If we are looking for monopolistic behavior, it is not hard to find. Look no further than the USPS. The doctor should heal thyself."

Union ‘rights’ that aren’t - The Boston Globe

Union ‘rights’ that aren’t - The Boston Globe: "There is no “fundamental right’’ to collective bargaining in government jobs. Indeed, labor leaders themselves used to say so.

Arnold Zander, the Wisconsin union organizer who became the first president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, wrote in 1940 that AFSCME saw “less value in the use of contracts and agreements in public service than . . . in private employment.’’ Instead of collective bargaining, he explained,, “our local unions find promotion and adoption of civil service legislation . . . the more effective way’’ to serve the interests of government employees. As late as the 1950s, AFSCME considered collective bargaining in the public sector desirable but not essential, and viewed strong civil-service laws as the best protection for government workers.

In December 1955, in a New York Times Magazine essay on “Labor’s Future,’’ no less a union icon than AFL-CIO president George Meany wrote: “The main function of American trade unions is collective bargaining. It is impossible to bargain collectively with the government.’’"

"Obama scolds Walker for trying to restrict collective bargaining by government employees to wages, yet the 2 million federal civilian (non-postal) workers Obama presides over can’t even bargain over that much: The wages, hours, and benefits of federal employment have never been subject to union contracts. The president appears to be perfectly OK with that. Last November he unilaterally announced a two-year pay freeze for all federal civilian employees, informing them — no negotiating — that they were going to “make some sacrifices’’ adding up to $2 billion this fiscal year."

"Wisconsin could abolish public-sector collective bargaining entirely, and its government workers would still be strongly protected from management abuse — and as free as they are today to join unions able to advocate on their behalf."

The National Pasture: Bring sheep back to the Mall - Greater Greater Washington

The National Pasture: Bring sheep back to the Mall - Greater Greater Washington: "President Woodrow Wilson brought a flock to the White House grounds during World War I. Led by a famed tobacco-chewing ram named Old Ike, the sheep replaced expensive gardeners, freeing up men to fight and slashing groundskeeping costs. Although they occasionally munched on rare shrubbery and perennials, Wilson's flock trimmed the grass better than any lawnmower."

Wisconsin’s Smoking Gun at Steven Landsburg | The Big Questions: Tackling the Problems of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics, and Physics

Wisconsin’s Smoking Gun at Steven Landsburg | The Big Questions: Tackling the Problems of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics, and Physics: "If you cut the pay of an overpaid worker, he’ll generally scream bloody murder. After all, overpaid workers like to stay overpaid. But if you cut the pay of a non-overpaid worker, you haven’t really damaged him. He just quietly leaves and gets a job elsewhere. After all, the ability to find a comparable job elsewhere is pretty much the definition of not being overpaid."

ICE Boss: It's Okay To Ignore The Constitution If It's To Protect Companies | Techdirt

ICE Boss: It's Okay To Ignore The Constitution If It's To Protect Companies | Techdirt: "First of all, if they don't have any interest in going after bloggers or discussion boards, why did they? Second, if the intellectual property laws of the US are 'clear' -- why did ICE not use them and actually get anyone charged with infringement? Third, the laws aren't that clear -- which is why we (normally) have trials to make sure there was actual infringement. If ICE had been willing to let due process play out, it would have avoided embarrassing mistakes, like taking down 84,000 websites because a few may have had illegal content. Or seizing a blog (yes, a blog, despite what he says) that posted links to music elsewhere that was sent by the labels and artists. And, when someone spends all that money to develop something, there are plenty of business models for them to use, and they have every right to use civil laws to go after those who violate their rights. What they shouldn't have is some government agents taking down websites with no due process, seizing plenty of protected speech in the process."

Plastic Surgery: A Free Society Is a Beautiful Society - Doug French - Mises Daily

Plastic Surgery: A Free Society Is a Beautiful Society - Doug French - Mises Daily: "The typical doctor has to devote precious office square footage to files and staff working the phones continuously, dialing for reimbursements and preauthorizations from insurance companies or Medicare, because that's where the doctor receives payment. As a result, the typical doctor's office waiting room is cramped and dingy with tattered, months-old magazines lying about and a TV in the corner turned up too loud so the older patients can hear.

Cosmetic surgeons treat people like they are the ones paying the bills (because they are). The waiting rooms I've been in are clean, roomy, and serene, even though you don't spend as much time there waiting for overbooked physicians as in the paid-from-insurance doctors' offices."

The Political Economy of Government Employee Unions - Thomas J. DiLorenzo - Mises Daily

The Political Economy of Government Employee Unions - Thomas J. DiLorenzo - Mises Daily: "Government-employee unions have vastly more power than do private-sector unions because the entities they work for are typically monopolies.

When the employees of a grocery store, for example, go on strike and shut down the store, consumers can simply shop elsewhere, and the grocery-store management is perfectly free to hire replacement workers. In contrast, when a city teachers' or garbage-truck drivers' union goes on strike, there is no school and no garbage collection as long as the strike goes on. In addition, teachers' tenure (typically after two or three years in government schools) and civil-service regulations make it extremely costly if not virtually impossible to hire replacement workers.

Thus, when government bureaucrats go on strike they have the ability to completely shut down the entire 'industry' they 'work' in indefinitely. The taxpayers will complain bitterly about the absence of schools and garbage collection, forcing the mayor, governor, or city councillors to quickly cave in to the union's demands to avoid risking the loss of their own jobs due to voter dissatisfaction."

"For decades, researchers have noted that the more money that is spent per pupil in the government schools, the worse is the performance of the students. Similar outcomes are prevalent in all other areas of government 'service.' As Milton Friedman once wrote, government bureaucracies — especially unionized ones — are like economic black holes where increased 'inputs' lead to declining 'outputs.' The more that is spent on government schools, the less educated are the students. The more that is spent on welfare, the more poverty there is, and so on. This of course is the exact opposite of normal economic life in the private sector, where increased inputs lead to more products and services, not fewer."