The Effect of Unions and Minimum Wage Laws on U.S. Automakers

The US automotive industry has been soundly beaten by foreign competition over the years. That’s why the industry as a whole begged Congress for the $25 billion in low-interest loans. They said they needed it to better compete with foreign automakers. But pumping taxpayer money into private companies isn’t going to help them compete, the problem lies in 1) Poor management, and 2)Bad legislation. We can’t do much about #1, but we can fight to change #2, but we need to understand it first.

Here is a great video interview with George Reisman about minimum wage laws and unions and their effect on the quality of production and the economy as a whole. Bear with me, the video may start off a bit slow for those who aren’t interested in economics, but gets interesting as Reisman talks about the real effects of unions on US automakers. Highly recommended for Common Sense Investors.