Today’s Wall Street Journal features this enlightening article by Mary Anastasia O’Grady.
The campaign talk among Obama and Clinton has it that companies are fleeing from states like Ohio to countries like Mexico because they can escape from tough unions and labor standards. The truth, however, is that Mexico is little different from New York when it comes to union power. Union interference with the labor market is extremely costly. It explains why the foolish Mexican state oil company, Pemex, managed to lose money last year despite record-high oil prices.
She concludes, “What could be done to slow Mexican emigration is to liberalize Mexico’s labor markets. But if last week’s debate is any indication, what the candidates have in mind is not to make Mexico’s labor market look more like the U.S.’s, but vice versa.”
