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Incompetence is so endemic that several countries have invented phrases to deal with it. Brazilians joke that public-sector workers turn up on the first day, hang their jackets on the back of the chair, and are never seen again. The Greeks talk about putting incompetents “in the fridge"—giving them pretend jobs. In France it is the cupboard. Americans refer to “the dance of the lemons”—the practice of reassigning bad teachers to new schools rather than getting rid of them. They also refer to the “rubber room” where incompetent or criminal teachers bounce around, often for years, while administrators and unions haggle over what is to be done with them.

Fattening Leviathan
The unions’ influence extends to the size and nature of the public sector. Private-sector unions have learned to exercise self-restraint when it comes to pushing for more manpower: they realise that more workers may reduce the wages of their members and that a higher wage bill may drive their employers out of business. But public-sector unions are relentless in demanding more resources and more personnel, which conveniently translate into more members and more dues.
Their most dramatic success has been in Britain. When Britain’s union-backed New Labour government came to power in 1997, public spending accounted for almost 40% of GDP. When it left power in 2010 public spending was nearly 50% of GDP (partly, to be fair, as a result of recession), and 1m workers had been added to the public-sector payrolls.

A. 어휘
endemic 유행병. phrases 語句(어구), 표현, 말씨.
turn up 모습을 나타내다. incompetents 무능력자. fridge 냉장고.
pretend 架空(가공)의, 상상의. cupboard 벽장. refer to 언급하다.
reassign 재배치하다. rubber 고무. bounce 되튀다, 뛰어다니다.
administrators 관리자, 행정관, 집행자. haggle 논쟁하다.
Fatten 살찌우다. Leviathan 거대한 海獸(해수), 거대한 것.
self-restraint 자제. bill 法案(법안). relentless 무자비한.
resources 物資(물자), 財源(재원). personnel 인원. dues 조합비. 지급금, 임금.
to be fair 공정을 추구하자면. recession 不況(불황).
payrolls 급료총액, 임금지급대장.