Recommended reading

• The deputy mayor of New York City explains why progressives should support efforts to rein in unions. Leftist support for public sector unions is better understood as a sop to a key Democratic constituency than as part of the stated progressive mission. 

• The New York Times, meanwhile, notes that private sector unions are increasingly pricing themselves out of the construction sector. Key excerpt: "A journeyman carpenter, for example, is now paid $46 an hour, with health, pension and other benefits bringing the total cost to $85."

• Perspective: If the federal budget was a Big Mac Extra Value Meal, Democratic proposals to reduce spending amount to -- in caloric terms -- roughly one-third of a freedom french fry. 

• Alex Tabarrok discusses private sector trash collection. 

• Don Boudreaux relates a short anecdote from the USSR. I've heard this one before but it never gets old.