Edward Conard

Top Ten New York Times Bestselling Author

  • “Unintended Consequences should be read by anyone who takes for granted the superiority of progressive taxation and has not thought carefully about the trade-offs involved.” - The New Republic
  • “Unintended Consequences is far smarter and more thought-provoking than most economics written for the general public” - Greg Mankiw, Harvard University, Former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors
  • “Unintended Consequences is full of substance, it is one of the must-read books of the year, and once I finish it I will be giving it a second read through right away.” - Tyler Cowen, Professor, George Mason University
  • “…challenges misconceptions that distort our economic debates.” - Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute
  • “…a must-read for serious students of economic policy.” - Glenn Hubbard, Dean, Columbia Business School, and former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
  • “…a very valuable contribution.” - Larry Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury and director of the National Economic Council, president emeritus, Harvard University
  • “…reminds us that inequality sends a signal of what society lacks most, in America’s case, entrepreneurship and risk taking.” - Lawrence Lindsey, CEO, The Lindsey Group, former Director of the National Economic Council
  • “Unintended Consequences provides a provocative interpretation of the causes of the global financial crisis and the policies needed to return to rapid growth. Whether you agree or not, this analysis is well worth reading.” - Nouriel Roubini, New York University; Chairman, Roubini Global Economics
  • “Unintended Consequences represents the most cogent and persuasive analysis of the Financial Crisis to date.” - Andrei Shleifer, 1999 John Bates Clark Medal Winner
  • “A full-throated defense of economic dynamism.” - The Wall Street Journal
  • “…challenges misconceptions that distort our economic debates.” - Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute
  • “…serious thinking for serious thinkers. …a thought-provoking blueprint for growing middle- and working-class incomes.” - Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts
Upside of Inequality Oxford Unintended Consequences

AI Summary. Recent strike waves differ in composition: earlier ones were dominated by teachers and other state and local government workers, while current strikers are mostly private-sector employees, often organizing location-by-location in stoppages too small to appear in Bureau of Labor Statistics counts. The Cornell-ILR Labor Action Tracker recorded 224,000 workers in stoppages versus the Bureau's 120,600.

Justin Fox Bloomberg
Date Posted:

Between UPS reaching a tentative deal with the Teamsters and the Yellow Corp bankruptcy, August won’t be the “Summer of Stikes” but @foxjust notes recent labor activity is increasingly in the private, not the public sector.

Are official strike counts missing today's private-sector labor actions?

Core argument: The Cornell-ILR Labor Action Tracker counted 224,000 workers involved in work stoppages last year, nearly double the BLS tally of 120,600, since BLS counts exclude strikes involving fewer than 1,000 workers.

The strikers in 2018 and 2019 were mostly teachers and other state and local government employees, while this year most are employees of private companies. A lot of current private-sector organizing is on a location-by-location basis with strikes that don’t show up in the BLS counts because they involve fewer than 1,000 workers, with the more inclusive Cornell-ILR Labor Action Tracker counting 224,000 workers involved in stoppages last year, nearly double the BLS tally of 120,600. The 340,000 workers who didn’t go on strike at UPS because the company gave into their wage demands should probably count as a significant union victory even if doesn’t show up in the strike statistics. And according to the US BLS other main measure of strike activity, days on strike divided by total working time, this year may still prove a standout, at least by post-1980 standards.

Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI

  1. The Cornell-ILR Labor Action Tracker counted 224,000 workers involved in work stoppages last year, nearly double the BLS tally of 120,600, since BLS counts exclude strikes involving fewer than 1,000 workers.
  2. Strikers in 2018 and 2019 were mostly teachers and other state and local government employees, while most of this year's strikers work for private companies, where organizing often proceeds location by location.
  3. The 340,000 UPS workers who did not strike after the company gave in to their wage demands arguably mark a significant union victory absent from strike statistics, and by the BLS measure of days on strike divided by total working time, this year may prove a standout by post-1980 standards.

Related Articles:

  • America Is Barreling Toward a Summer of Strikes — More than 650,000 US workers are on strike or threatening to strike, a level of union activity not seen in decades, with actors and writers already out and unions at UPS and Detroit's three largest automakers poised to join if contract talks fail. One Bank of America analyst put the odds of a United Auto Workers strike above 90%.
  • Unions Inflation Warning — The share of people aged 16 and over working or looking for work fell when the pandemic hit and has only partly recovered, with population aging accounting for most of the remaining shortfall. That implies economic activity must run at a lower level to avoid persistent wage and price inflation.
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