Ever since the advent of collective bargaining not long after the industrial revolution made a generation of workers obsolete - a scenario which is being replayed now with the robotization of the workforce - libertarians have screamed bloody murder, accusing labor unions of artificially skewing the labor market and creating structural imbalances within the workforce.

And after a long and bruising battle, the libertarians (and not far behind them, the conservatives) of the world are finally close to declaring victory, even if the outcome may not be precisely what they desired.

As Credit Suisse explains in a recent analysis on growing deflationary forces prevalent in the labor market, as industry power becomes more concentrated, and employers move closer to becoming monopsony buyers of labor, the fundamental bargaining power of labor is diminished. The result has been a secular reduction in collective bargaining agreements to the point where they are virtually irrelevant.