routine software design specifications for coding (Gupta 1989) 11 This shift of routine production jobs from advanced to developing nations is a great boon to many workers in such nations who otherwise would be jobless or working for much lower wages.These workers,in turn,now have more money with which to purchase symbolic analytic services from advanced nations (often embedded within all sorts of complex products).The trend is also beneficial to everyone around the world who can now obtain high-volume,standardized products (including information and software)more cheaply than before. 12 But these benefits do not come without certain costs.In particular the burden is borne by those who no longer have good-paying routine production jobs within advanced economies like the United States.Many of these people used to belong to unions or at least benefited from prevailing wage rates established in collective bargaining agreements.But as the old corporate bureaucracies have flattened into global webs,bargaining leverage has been lost.Indeed,the tacit national bargain is no more. 13 Despite the growth in the number of new jobs in the United States,union membership has withered.In 1960,35 percent of all nonagricultural workers in America belonged to a union.But by 1980 that portion had fallen to just under a quarter,and by 1989 to about 17 percent.Excluding government employees,union membership was down to 13.4 percent(US Government Printing Office 1989).This was a smaller proportion even than in the early 1930s,before the National Labor Relations Act created a legally protected right to labor representation.The drop in membership has been accompanied by a growing number of collective bargaining agreements to freeze wages at current levels,reduce wage levels of entering workers, or reduce wages overall.This is an important reason why the long economic recovery that began in 1982 produced a smaller rise in unit labor costs than any of the eight recoveries since World War II-the low rate of unemployment during its course notwithstanding. 14 Routine production jobs have vanished fastest in traditional unionized industries (autos,steel,and rubber,for example),where average wages have kept up with inflation.This is because the jobs of older workers in such industries are protected by seniority.The youngest workers are the first to be laid off.Faced with a choice of cutting wages or cutting the number of jobs,a majority of union members(secure in the knowledge that there are many who are junior to them who will be laid off first) often have voted for the latter.routine software design specifications for coding (Gupta 1989). 11 This shift of routine production jobs from advanced to developing nations is a great boon to many workers in such nations who otherwise would be jobless or working for much lower wages. These workers, in turn, now have more money with which to purchase symbolic analytic services from advanced nations (often embedded within all sorts of complex products). The trend is also beneficial to everyone around the world who can now obtain high-volume, standardized products (including information and software) more cheaply than before. 12 But these benefits do not come without certain costs. In particular the burden is borne by those who no longer have good-paying routine production jobs within advanced economies like the United States. Many of these people used to belong to unions or at least benefited from prevailing wage rates established in collective bargaining agreements. But as the old corporate bureaucracies have flattened into global webs, bargaining leverage has been lost. Indeed, the tacit national bargain is no more. 13 Despite the growth in the number of new jobs in the United States, union membership has withered. In 1960, 35 percent of all nonagricultural workers in America belonged to a union. But by 1980 that portion had fallen to just under a quarter, and by 1989 to about 17 percent. Excluding government employees, union membership was down to 13.4 percent (US Government Printing Office 1989). This was a smaller proportion even than in the early 1930s, before the National Labor Relations Act created a legally protected right to labor representation. The drop in membership has been accompanied by a growing number of collective bargaining agreements to freeze wages at current levels, reduce wage levels of entering workers, or reduce wages overall. This is an important reason why the long economic recovery that began in 1982 produced a smaller rise in unit labor costs than any of the eight recoveries since World War II—the low rate of unemployment during its course notwithstanding. 14 Routine production jobs have vanished fastest in traditional unionized industries (autos, steel, and rubber, for example), where average wages have kept up with inflation. This is because the jobs of older workers in such industries are protected by seniority. The youngest workers are the first to be laid off. Faced with a choice of cutting wages or cutting the number of jobs, a majority of union members (secure in the knowledge that there are many who are junior to them who will be laid off first) often have voted for the latter