> There's also the idea that you have legislation to protect workers (minimum wage, 40 hour week)

Just an addendum that most Nordic countries don't have that, those are set on collective agreements between employers and employees, typically through an union.

and that's a function of the regulatory environment. In the US it's tough for private sector unions but quite the opposite for public sector unions and for certain private sector contractors.

Right now we have a lot of huge houses with massive master bedroom suites in Arizona and very little high speed rail but if there was union labor to build those houses and non-union to build the rail it would be the other way around. As it is we have a "labor aristocracy" that fought efforts to establish universal health care for 40 years because good health benefits are a reason to take a union job.