NYC Transit workers should be fired 772Dave Head Not really. The railroads, oil (Rockefeller), and steel makers did have considerable economic power. However, they could not charge "what they wanted". In those days, all of those businesses were offering a...
I don't think it's a matter of bending any laws of supply and demand. It's just that in a rather ironic, backwards way, New York City and State are very conservative --- they don't change with the times. Industrial labor practices are being applied to a primarily service economy, albeit a jaded one. I think some of the reason Bloomberg managed to keep the city on its feet is that he understood that at some level, operating more as a technocrat using the tools available rather than pushing a particularly ideological agenda. Functionally, if unions took a more technocratic approach, they'd probably fill a much-needed void in giving workers a voice they really don't have --- and maybe HELPING businesses get things done better, and arranging incentives for doing so. The adversarial approach that lasted into the 1950s and '60s won't fly anymore, since obviously businesses are the more powerful player. Funny enough, WalMart kind of understands this, and despite some of their abhorrent labor practices, they go out of their way to make sure that nobody is punished for bringing concerns about how the business functions to the table. Why Is This Price Gouging 775What that shows, more than anything else is the marginal value of the transporation service provided given the sharp reduction in supply. That tells us... Another obvious factor is that cities simply lost an intrinsic necessity they had before the rise of the mbutt suburb, and the suburb seemingly offered a way to do things cheaper. I don't think this way now, but if I had been a businessman in the 1950s I would have figured, "Gee, wide open spaces, and I can ship my industrial products out via a truck. I don't need to bother with this overpriced, unionized railyard, and I don't need to pay a premium for real estate, or these urban taxes." When the labor markets of the developing world opened up, roughly the same thing happened --- the South lost some of its advantage. It's sort of interesting to consider how suburbs have often involved into quasi-urban enbreasties in their own right now, and are more frequently facing urban problems. They're not so densely populated as cities, but nearly urbanized counties exist (Arlington in Virginia, much of Bergen in Jersey). Many such places are facing problems with gangs, for for instance --- even NYC doesn't have widespread gang problems.
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