Unions won one, but what about the country, President Obama?

Greg Mankiw points to the union win resulting from President Obama's order to permit federal agencies to require union-only labor in contracts. He points out, however, that the win for union workers is bad news for non-union workers, but also bad news for the taxpayer who will pay more for what the government receives from the union contracts.

Mankiw also concludes that "In my judgment, it is bad news from a macroeconomic perspective. As I once learned from Professor Larry Summers, one 'cause of long-term unemployment is unionization.'"

President Roosevelt encouraged unionization under the New Deal. The increased labor costs and reduced business profits, discouraging hiring of employees and expansion of the economy. Obama seems to be going down the road of increased unemployment to pay political obligations to one of his main constituencies, the unions.