Unionization is a bad example. If all union members were unable to defect, the employer would still reject their demands for above market wages, because he could replace them wholesale with workers from the larger labor pool, at market rates.
If all workers in the world were forcibly enrolled in a global union and prevented from defecting, and this union demanded a doubling of wages, this would just lead to 1. some companies shutting down, and 2. other companies seeing profit margins decline to below the rate that the supply of labor versus the supply of capital determines as optimal for economic development, resulting in more unemployed workers, and a one time boost in wages for employed workers, as labor's share of income increases, at the expense of lower recurring increases in wages, as the rate of economic growth declines.
Anyway, smart contracts could indeed be a solution to defection. They are a potentially massively scalable coordination tool, allowing huge numbers of people to enter any given agreement at minimal cost.
If all workers in the world were forcibly enrolled in a global union and prevented from defecting, and this union demanded a doubling of wages, this would just lead to 1. some companies shutting down, and 2. other companies seeing profit margins decline to below the rate that the supply of labor versus the supply of capital determines as optimal for economic development, resulting in more unemployed workers, and a one time boost in wages for employed workers, as labor's share of income increases, at the expense of lower recurring increases in wages, as the rate of economic growth declines.
Anyway, smart contracts could indeed be a solution to defection. They are a potentially massively scalable coordination tool, allowing huge numbers of people to enter any given agreement at minimal cost.