I'm not sold on labor unions being the primary factor in this, though they may contribute, because construction costs in the US are so much higher than countries like France, which has even stronger labor unions and stricter regulation. I find it hard to believe that US labor unions are able to extract so much more value than their French counterparts.
I think a bigger culprit is excessive local control and zoning restrictions, wielded to benefit property owners or to bleed developers and generate revenue for city governments. The shocking part, IMO, is that these costs far outweigh the cost added by notoriously strong French labor unions and EU regulation.
I think a bigger culprit is excessive local control and zoning restrictions, wielded to benefit property owners or to bleed developers and generate revenue for city governments. The shocking part, IMO, is that these costs far outweigh the cost added by notoriously strong French labor unions and EU regulation.