Companies fostered loyalty to the firm and kept trade unionism at bay by providing for their employees' welfare.

ECONOMIST: Poverty in America

It was trade unionism that gave him his first chance of advancement, as a senior official of the Inland Revenue Staff Federation.

ECONOMIST: Obituary

But several Labour MPs criticised the "attacks" on trade unionism.

BBC: Tory MP calls for trade union register

The authors correctly point out that it is difficult to blame declining trade unionism and a diminished public appetite for welfare on the pressures, real or imagined, of globalisation: America is, after all, far less globalised (in terms of the share of its economy accounted for by trade) than many European economies with broader state welfare.

ECONOMIST: Poverty in America