Philip Howard – Getting Unions Out of Government

0:00 Philip’s early work on post-nuclear war recovery

2:26 Philip’s skepticism toward the role of lawyers in the US

4:34 What’s wrong with the EPA, OSHA, and the EEOC?

6:59 How to ensure worker safety without “4,000 rules”

8:07 Why the US spends so much on healthcare

11:32 Philip: We’ve degenerated into a culture of distrust

14:58 The origins of American distrust

18:42 Re-instilling trust

21:38 The problems of national security and public health

26:57 Are public employee unions constitutional?

39:35 Market constraints don’t hold for government employees

34:55 Do public sector workers need protection from exploitation?

39:22 Philip: “Public service is repellant to good candidates”

40:58 A short history of the civil service

46:49 Is Philip inveighing against the Democratic Party and the labor movement at large?

53:12 Philip: Police unions prevent accountability, too

56:08 The necessity of a constitutional solution to public unions

1:00:58 Philip: The political organizing of public unions harms the public

1:04:46 Would the current Supreme Court be receptive to Philip’s case?

Recorded October 27, 2023

Links and Readings

Philip’s book, The Death of Common Sense: How Law Is Suffocating America

Philip’s book, Life Without Lawyers: Restoring Responsibility in America

Philip’s latest book, Not Accountable: Rethinking the Constitutionality of Public Employee Unions

Edward Banfield’s book, The Moral Basis of a Backward Society

Robert Putnam’s book, Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy

Philip’s forthcoming book, Everyday Freedom: Designing the Framework for a Flourishing Society