# Prof. William Baumol's "cost disease" theory is highlighted

1 Faculty News June 1, 2013 ![The Gobe and Mail logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/con_030719.jpg?itok=syM8EjNA)>

Excerpt from [The Globe and Mail](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/when-politicians-campaign-against-public-sector-unions/article12288568/) -- "Baumol's cost disease – an economic theorem often proven empirically and named after the economist [William Baumol](http://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/william-baumol) – shows that wage gains always outstrip productivity improvements in the public sector. Baumol's cost disease poses a huge challenge for provincial governments, whose services – health, education, social services – are very labour-intensive."

[Read more](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/when-politicians-campaign-against-public-sector-unions/article12288568/)