Hostess Demise

Michael Hiltzik, writing in the Los Angeles Times, makes it pretty clear that Hostess' problems were caused by management, not the unions.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who has studied W. Edwards Deming's insights into quality control. He attributes 85-90 percent of quality control problems in any enterprise to management, rather than workers.

It is clear from Hiltzik's summary, citing chapter and verse, that Hostess' problems could have been resolved long ago by exercising quality control. Instead, they rewarded their top level magement and raided the pension funds.

It's an all too common story.

But it helps keep up the income share of the top decile.

And then there's this observation.