Bad data, bad economics, and bad policy: Time to fire wrongful discharge law
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abstract
One of the many effects of the combination of technological change, globalization of labor, capital, and product markets, and changes in labor force composition in recent years is the disruption of traditional employment patterns based on Fordist production techniques. Of all the branches of government, the judiciary is the least capable of responding to these massive economic and social changes in a productive manner. It has the least capacity for collecting and analyzing data, the least ability to control its own agenda, and the least democratic accountability. There are a number of possible solutions to the problem of economic insecurity faced by many employees worldwide. They range from traditional unions to forms of employee-employer cooperation which do not fit within the confines of the National Labor Relations Act. None of these solutions is likely to be adequate, not to mention ideal, for all employers and all employees. The massive scale of the societal changes at the root of our current economic instability argue against the one-size-fits-all responses offered by the legal system. Employers and employees must be freed from outside interference to develop solutions appropriate to the many forms of industrial organization which coexist in the economy. Of course, freedom has its price. Not every employee will be "protected" and some employers will undoubtedly do bad things. Protecting all employees without imposing significant costs on other employees and society in general, however, is simply not an option.
