Blog of Q's

By ROBERT B. REICH (New York Times, February 28, 2005)

… The problem is, the choices we make in the market don’t fully
reflect our values as workers or as citizens. I didn’t want our
community bookstore in Cambridge, Mass., to close (as it did last fall)
yet I still bought lots of books from Amazon.com. In addition, we may
not see the larger bargain when our own job or community isn’t directly
at stake. I don’t like what’s happening to airline workers, but I still
try for the cheapest fare I can get.

The only way for the workers or citizens in us to trump the consumers
in us is through laws and regulations that make our purchases a social
choice as well as a personal one. A requirement that companies with
more than 50 employees offer their workers affordable health insurance,
for example, might increase slightly the price of their goods and
services. My inner consumer won’t like that very much, but the worker
in me thinks it a fair price to pay. Same with an increase in the
minimum wage or a change in labor laws making it easier for employees
to organize and negotiate better terms.

I wouldn’t go so far as to re-regulate the airline industry or hobble
free trade with China and India – that would cost me as a consumer far
too much – but I’d like the government to offer wage insurance to ease
the pain of sudden losses of pay. And I’d support labor standards that
make trade agreements a bit more fair. …