In the last half of the 20th century industrial standard living is rising steadily in the United States as unionization steadily falling. The only way they can actually affect wages is by contracting employment, so while they can raise wages in certain particular industries, they do that by reducing employment in those industries. But if you look at Scandinavian countries there you are actually seeing how unions. And they are acting in a way that's in concord with employers but actually, you know, asking for better working conditions or better wages also compressing the weight structure. They're having massive effects that you can see in the data.
Economist and author Daron Acemoglu of MIT discusses his book Power and Progress with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Acemoglu argues that the productivity and prosperity that results from innovation is not always shared widely across the population. He makes the case for the importance of regulating new technologies to ensure that the benefits of innovation are distributed equitably.