Re: Mosler Seminar: A Union Wage at the Bottom

[John Gelles <jjgelles@xxxxxxxx>]

	     WAGES SET BY CONGRESS, UNIONS AND MARKETS

	Slightly to the side of the above topic, The New Yorker
	this week carries a story (page 38, 10 March 97) on
	Michael Bloomberg and the value of data organized for
	traders, as well as the value of news and literature,
	of the kind PKT archives, in the market place.

	If you have not followed Bloomberg media, it is worth
	your time to read.

	               Pertinence here is how he lures his
	employees away from other activity to do analysis of
	economic data -- he pays them well and they share in
	profits. The market for this kind of skill is very
	tight and unions are not likely to be needed.

	As you know, thousands of doctors are now forming
	unions, as HMO's and Congress conspire to screw
	them as well as patients, rather than ensure the
	best medical care the least of us might get if
	paperwork were cut, the "surplus" of doctors were
	financed to treat people in need of their skills,
	and additional "surplus" were created -- not cut
	back as current plans call for.

	The point is not that anyone in the world, let
	alone members of this list, is anti-union. Ronald
	Reagan was a union man -- a Reagan-union man.
	The point is that Congress will screw you if it
	sets your wage -- see the minimum wage for evidence.

	Unions would rather strike than think -- hence
	compulsory arbitration must always be part of the
	package.

	Set the subsidized wage (or loan of a wage-advance)
	through negotiations - arbitration. Then we may
	improve on welfare with full employment at a fair
	minimum level of consumption -- one that rises as
	technology advances.

	John Gelles


On Sat, 8 Mar 1997, Warren Mosler wrote:
  ...
> I hope you are not calling me anti-union, simply because it is not in
> feaps.
  ...
> As for how the real elr wage is set, I thought that was covered.
> For example, it could include healthcare benefits.  Remember, though,
> such benefits have a real cost, and if added may result in a shrinking
> of the elr pool and a 'spreading' of the value scale, if other govt
> spending is not cut and/or taxes not raised.  Perhaps other econs could
> comment on this.