Libertarian law professor Richard Epstein has a new column up at Forbes.com outlining a plan for reforming public-sector labor. It begins with some amazing statistics:
Right now the number of private sector employees outnumber public employees by about a 5 to 1 ratio. Yet with the recent collapse of the automobile and construction industries, public sector union members at 7.9 million workers outnumber the 7.4 million private sector union members. Put otherwise, the penetration rate of labor unions in the private section is at an all-time low of 7.2%. The similar number for public employees is around 43%.
His suggestions include "Reduce pensions for public employees to the levels received by their peers in private industry" and "deregulate, lower taxes and slash budgets."
