Contempt for Neoliberalism Isn't Nostalgic

Matthew Yglesias misrepresented reality when he wrote

People like to get nostalgic about the blue collar factory work of yore, but one advantage of the service sector is that it’s considerably less deadly.

Who is "nostalgic"? There's no link. What lots of people get angry about is that formerly decently-paid jobs have disappeared because Neoliberals rejiggered the economy in a way that rewarded a minority of the world's population at the expense of the everyone else. It's this kind of fundamental dishonesty that really gets my goat.

And then there is this:

But of course this ideal-type marketplace is supposed to feature “perfect information” whereas in a real marketplace there are asymmetries between workers and management about safety and managers themselves aren’t omniscient with regard to the costs and benefits of safety measures. If you can establish credible public agencies that track and disseminate information about the incidence of workplace injuries, that trains people in best practices, and helps inform people about often obscure health risks then you’re helping bring us closer to that kind of world.

In plain English: The notion that free markets create optimal conditions for workers, and by extension consumers, is false. Some managers and owners lie about hazards, risks, attempts at amelioration, and so forth and refuse to take necessary precautions and all do the same either because they don't know or don't care about the dangers confronting workers and consumers, to say nothing of the environment. Therefore, the state needs to regulate businesses to protect workers, consumers, and the environment.  However, if he put it that way it would require jettisoning the Neoliberal project of obfuscating reality through the use of debunked theories of how economies work.