Hunter

Unemployment is low, and companies are making money. Like most economic theories, the ebb and flow of supply and demand under these circumstances should lead to bigger pay checks. But they aren’t. Why? Because when it comes to wages, other factors override economic truisms. Supply is about how much of a product you have, and demand is how much of a product people want. If there is more demand than supply, prices should go up. If there’s more supply than demand, price is supposed to go down. [...]

Workers at more than 30 of the “50 Best U.S. Manufacturers” belong to unions. Industry Week puts out an annual list of the 50 Best U.S. Manufacturers based on financial measurements like revenue growth, profit margin and other financial metrics that Wall Street investors use to rate a company. Using back of the napkin numbers, the overall unionization rate in manufacturing is just under 10%--9.6% in 2017. So, all things being equal, only 5 of the companies on the top 50 list should be unionized. In fact, [...]

For years, politicians have debated about how to make America prosper. Some argue that the role of government is to loosen the reins on corporations by relaxing regulations and lowering corporate taxes so that companies will create jobs here in the U.S. Others – including much of organized labor – note that one role of government is to create the best conditions for both companies and workers to thrive: to have a strong industrial policy that creates good jobs, builds a solid infrastructure, educates the workforce and [...]

It’s not even a debate any more: there’s an unprecedented shortage of skilled workers in America. Everyday jobs go unfilled because of a lack of qualified candidates. Looking ahead, demand for quite a few of the skilled jobs that require apprenticeships or long on-the-job training are expected to grow or at least hold steady over the next eight years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.   This doesn’t just affect businesses: the shrinking base of these jobs also affects the middle class as these jobs have [...]