His overarching thesis: unsustainable health care costs that are sapping U.S. competitiveness are pushing various stakeholders to pay for efficiencies to lower costs.
Moreover, the protection of jobs and pay would be short-term, because it would gradually lead to companies losing competitiveness as rivals in India and China innovated (see article).
If Nokia ends up having to pay the penalty, it would represent a hefty payment for a company scrambling to regain competitiveness in the mobile-device business.
Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres have already drastically reduced player payroll in order to help pay down what they owe creditors, a trend that could very well gain momentum and compromise league competitiveness.
Upward pressure on pay is likely to lead to more job losses in Italy and Spain, which are already struggling with poor competitiveness and rising unemployment.