Apropos of yesterday's post about how the "Industrial Age" to "Information Age" transition was somewhat overblown. There have been changes in the length of time people spend with any one employer, in the way that employment contracts protect people from the risks of unemployment and ill-health (on this see Krugman's column today), and in the way that employers support retirement savings.
One reason that manufacturing jobs were associated with long job tenure, good health benefits, and pensions was that unions bargained for those benefits.
Perhaps I've missed it, but it seems odd that the union movement has not been more visible in the opposition to Social Security phase-out.
Posted by robe0419 at March 8, 2005 11:12 AM