So here it begins.

I've been reading Garrison Keillor's "Homegrown Democrat," a book about the values underlying his participation in the Democratic Party, in lieu of writing my article about the way the Republicans' misunderstanding of economics distorts their values. It's a delightful book (Keillor's), although, like all political writing these days, only of interest to the already converted. But when he starts singing the praises of unions my knee-jerk reaction is to turn off my brain, singing, "La la la I can't hear you I hate unions."

I saw a bumper sticker last week that is a great antidote to that knee-jerk reaction: "The Labor Movement: The folks who brought you the weekend." It's a good reminder that collective problems require collective solutions. And that economic efficiency does not mean the same thing as social justice. Or did no one else study the second theorem of welfare economics in college?