, Columnist
How the U.S. Ended Up Enthralled by Unions
Even labor-friendly Paris uses fewer workers than New York City, and for a fraction of the cost. American public unions pervert the process.
Was it worth it?
Photographer: Yana Paskova/Getty ImagesTake a look at the cost schedule for American government services, and you are likely to walk away boggled. Who are all these people working for the government? Why are they getting paid so much? And why does it seem to take so many of them to get anything done?
Look, for example, at the recent construction of the Second Avenue subway line in New York City, recently highlighted by the New York Times as “the most expensive mile of subway track on earth.” The employees singled out in that article do not work for the city, but they might as well; it is a collection of consultants, contractors and union laborers who work largely on government infrastructure projects.