In an article titled Unions, Economic Freedom, and Growth the authors Randall G. Holcombe and James D. Gwartney attempt to enlighten the audience of the corruptness of modern labor unions while exposing the selfish intentions of many union supported laws. “While unions and economic freedom are conceptually compatible, labor law in the United States, and throughout the world, has restricted the freedom of contract between employees and employers (Holcombe and Gwartney).” Overall the article’s authors rely greatly on a logos approach to convince the readers of their arguments merit. The article was published in the winter 2010 edition of the Cato Journal. A peer-reviewed journal attended for scholars concerned with politics and the economy.
The presentation is well thought out, highly educated and easy to follow. The authors’ ethos comes from the positions they hold within their communities. “Randall G. Holcombe is DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University, and James D. Gwartney is Gus A. Stavros Eminent Scholar at Florida State University (Holcombe and Gwartney).” Additionally the authors borrow ethos from over twenty credible sources with captions such as “Botero et al. (2004) find that countries with more regulated labor markets have higher unemployment and lower rates of labor force participation, so the reduction in economic freedom is associated with a reduction in employment (Holcombe and Gwartney) ” and “Siebert (1997) noted that the French minimum wage was at about 60 percent of the median wage in 1997, compared with 34 percent in the United States” Quoting works by other credible authors adds to their credibility (Holcombe and Gwartney).” The authors begin the article with a brief history of U.S. labor union legislation as well as the effects each piece of legislation had on the U.S. workforce. Great examples of this is would be