Question

Brendan Barber, Given that union membership could be regarded as placing a tax on consumers by raising the cost of production, shouldn't all union members in the UK be morally bound *not* to reduce their shopping bills by buying more cheaply produced goods or service from non-unionised businesses in the UK or overseas? It's easy to be moral when it doesn't cost you money, and you can't have it both ways surely?
Asked by PatNInterupt on Feb 13 2009 4:12:49 PM and supported by 25 members MORE!

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PatNInterupt at Mar 16 2009 12:00:00 AM : So he (unsurprisingly) "rejects the premise" that trade union membership can be a tax on consumers. It's a good job I didn't ask him about the increased level of unemployment brought about by minimum wage laws, otherwise that's another premise firmly established in economics for generations that he would have had to reject too. It seems ignorance of basic economics is a requirement to reach the top in public life these days.

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