Summers vs Obama

The analysis of Professor Larry Summers:

Another cause of long-term unemployment is unionization. High union wages that exceed the competitive market rate are likely to cause job losses in the unionized sector of the economy. Also, those who lose high-wage union jobs are often reluctant to accept alternative low-wage employment. Between 1970 and 1985, for example, a state with a 20 percent unionization rate, approximately the average for the fifty states and the District of Columbia, experienced an unemployment rate that was 1.2 percentage points higher than that of a hypothetical state that had no unions.

The policies of President Barack Obama:

On the economy, President Barack Obama signaled once again the ground is shifting -- this time with regard to unions.

With his signature on three executive orders, President Barack Obama expanded workers rights and reversed Bush administration orders that were seen as anti-union.

Then, the president said something that hasn't been heard in the Oval Office for a long time. "I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem, to me it's part of the solution," said President Obama.