DOCSLIB.ORG

Notice Concerning Copyright Restrictions

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Notice Concerning Copyright Restrictions Processed by Minitex on: 8/28/2020 8:42:15 AM This material comes to you from the University of Minnesota collection or another participating library of the Minitex Library Information Network. Patrons: please contact your library for help accessing this document. Library staff: for issues or assistance with this document, please email: [email protected] and provide the following information: Article ID: XOJ 01MNPALSMTR0007335 Patron email address ____________________________________________________________________________________ Title: Labor history. ArticleTitle: Inventing the "American standard of living": Gender, race and working-class identity, 1880-1925 ArticleAuthor: Lawrence Glickman Vol: 34 No: 2-3 Date: 2007 Pages: 221-? OCLC - 49560241; ISSN - 0023656X; LCN - 2002238317; Publisher: [London] : 2007 Source: ProQ:abiglobal Copyright: CCL ____________________________________________________________________________________ NOTICE CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS: The copyright law of the United States [Title 17, United StatesCode] governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopy is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of that order would involve violation of copyright law. Labor History ISSN: 0023-656X (Print) 1469-9702 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/clah20 Inventing the “American Standard of Living”: Gender, race and working-class identity, 1880–1925 Lawrence Glickman To cite this article: Lawrence Glickman (1993) Inventing the “American Standard of Living”: Gender, race and working-class identity, 1880–1925, Labor History, 34:2-3, 221-235, DOI: 10.1080/00236569300890141 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00236569300890141 Published online: 28 Feb 2007. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 321 View related articles Citing articles: 9 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=clah20 AMERICAN STANDARD 221 INVENTING THE "AMERICAN STANDARD OF LIVING": Gender, Race and Working-Class Identity, 1880-1925 Lawrence Glickman The "American Standard of Living" was central to organized labor's ideology between 1880 and 1925; yet few workers defined the term when they invoked the "American Standard." Labor historians have not inves- tigated its meaning either• In Beyond Equality, David Montgomery sug- gests that the American Standard of Living was the equivalent of the term "white man's wages," but he does not pursue this point? This article de- velops Montgomery's suggestion by arguing that all three terms- white, man, and wages-and the corresponding categories of race, gender and political economy lay at the core of the idea of an American Standard• Since Werner Sombart's Why is There No Socialism in America, many analysts have attributed the absence of radical working-class politics in America to its high standard of living. As Sombart concluded in 1906: the American worker lives in comfortable circumstances .... He is well fed. •.. He dresses like a gentleman and she like a lady, and so he does not even outwardly become aware of the gap that separates him from the ruling class. It is no wonder if, in such a situation, any dissatisfaction with the "existing social order" finds difficulty in establishing itself in the mind of the worker. •.. All Socialist utopias come to nothing on roast beef and apple pie.2 Lawrence Glickman teaches history at the Univ. of South Carolina and is working on a study of the "living wage" ideology in the American labor movement between 1880 and 1925. *I would like to thank the members of the San Francisco Bay Area Labor History Workshop and the audience at the 1991 North American Labor History Conference for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this article. Alice Bullard, Elizabeth Faue, Jill Frank, Ellen Furlough, Alice Kessler-Harris and Steve Leikin provided especially helpful critiques. ~Montgomery writes of"the concept of an 'American Standard of Living' or 'white man's wages.'" Beyond Equality: Labor and the Radical Republicans, 1862-1872 (Urbana, 1981), 254. 2Werner Sombart, Why is There No Socialism in the United States?, trans, by Patricia M. Hocking and C. T. Husbands, (NY, 1976), 105-106. Originally published in 1906. 222 LABOR HISTORY To Sombart, the ability to live comfortably negated the need for class pol- itics. While the new labor history has challenged Sombart's view that America lacked working-class consciousness, it has not questioned Som- bart's belief that consumerism eclipsed working-class consciousness. 3 It is my argument that the American Standard of Living was a working-class ideology which, far from eclipsing politics, revitalized and remade working- class consciousness through an emphasis on consumerism. There are two parts to this argument. First, it analyzes the transfor- mation of the meaning of wage labor within working-class culture. In the late 19th century, organized labor began to accept wage labor, which it had previously decried as a form of slavery. In so doing, labor redefined wages to signify earnings paid to workers on the basis of their needs as consumers rather than as an equivalent of their productive labor. Labor leaders called these earning "living wages" and held them in sharp distinc- tion to "slave wages," which did not enable the worker to meet his social needs. They argued that living wages should enable workers to maintain an "American Standard of Living." The American Standard allowed workers to reground the distinction between freedom and slavery in a wage labor economy by making needs, rather than production, the mark of virtuous character. While this regrounding served to re-invigorate labor ideology by replacing a dying producerism with a vibrant consumer-oriented language, it also had negative effects. In addition to re-establishing the freeman/slave distinction, dichotomies between male/female and American/alien were re-established via the American Standard. In adjusting to the wage labor economy, organized workers used the idea of the American Standard of Living not only to reclaim economic and political rights, which they feared they were losing in the new economy, but also to exclude other groups from its benefits. If it allowed white, male workers to escape "slave" status, it also gave them a tool to declare others slaves. The labor leaders who developed the idea of the American Standard of Living, as they accepted permanent wage labor, developed many intriguing ideas about the rela- tion between consumerism and working-class ideology. Labor's turn to consumerism should not be understood as inherently de-politicizing. The ~Some, however, have challenged Sombart's claim that American workers were uniquely well- off. See Peter R. Shergold, Working-Class Life: The "American Standard'in Comparative Perspective, 1899-1913 (Pittsburgh, 1982), and John H. M. Laslett, "'Were American Workers Really Better off?' A Comparison of Living Standards in a Scottish and an Illinois Mining Town, 1850-1893," unpublished paper presented at the Second UC Conference on Com- parative Labor History, Santa Cruz, CA, April 1989. Both of these important studies treat the standard of living as a measurement of wealth, not as an ideology. For a philosophical investigation of the term, see Amartya Sen, et al, The Standard of Living, ed. by Geoffrey Hawthorn (Cambridge, 1987). AMERICAN STANDARD 223 American Standard had a variety of political valences, some quite rad- ical, others downright reactionary. g* g* Beginning in the late 19th century, the reigning metaphor in labor's economic language changed from "wage slavery" to the "living wage." For much of the century, skilled workers rejected wage labor as the moral equiva- lent of chattel slavery. By the 1880s, however, they began to view it in more positive terms. 4 Wrote George Gunton (an Eight-Hours movement pam- phleteer and the prophet of labor's "consumerist turn") in 1889, "It is now susceptible to scientific demonstration that wages are not a badge of slavery, but a necessary and continual part of social progress. ''5 Organized workers continued to invoke a dichotomy between slavery and freedom, but they placed it in a different context. "Slavery" and wage-earning were no longer synonymous. Instead, slavery came to stand for low or inadequate wages. In 1873, for example, Ira Steward argued that slavery was not caused by wages but by poverty. 6 With living wages--defined by most male bread- winners as sufficient earnings to meet the ever-expanding consuming needs of their families-slavery could be avoided and its opposite, republican freedom, gained. 7 In the new language of the labor movement, the dis- tinction between slavery and freedom continued to be central. But rather than counterposing wage work with freedom, workers began to equate the two. The new slavery, in this context, was not wage labor but low stan- dards of living; by the same token, republican freedom became equated with the American Standard of Living. 8 Like the "wage slavery" discourse, the language of the American Stan- dard promoted economic independence, civic participation, and working- class character. The wage slavery metaphor, however, characterized a "producerist" ideology, while the American Standard emphasized the role of the wage-earning worker as a consumer and a creature- not a victim- of "For a detailed examination of this transition, see "From 'Wage Slavery' to the "Living Wage,'" the first chapter of my dissertation, "A Living Wage: Political Economy, Gender and Con- sumerism in American Culture, 1880-1925," Univ. of California, Berkeley, 1992.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Hoshi Pharmaceuticals in the Interwar Years Timothy M. Yang Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of Th
    Market, Medicine, and Empire: Hoshi Pharmaceuticals in the Interwar Years Timothy M. Yang Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2013 Timothy M. Yang All rights reserved ABSTRACT Market, Medicine, and Empire: Hoshi Pharmaceuticals in the Interwar Years Timothy M. Yang This dissertation examines the connections between global capitalism, modern medicine, and empire through a close study of Hoshi Pharmaceuticals during the interwar years. As one of the leading drug companies in East Asia at the time, Hoshi embodied Japan's imperial aspirations, rapid industrial development, and burgeoning consumer culture. The company attempted to control every part of its supply and distribution chain: it managed plantations in the mountains of Taiwan and Peru for growing coca and cinchona (the raw material for quinine) and contracted Turkish poppy farmers to supply raw opium for government-owned refineries in Taiwan. Hoshi also helped shape modern consumer culture in Japan and its colonies, and indeed, became an emblem for it. At its peak in the early 1920s, Hoshi had a network of chain stores across Asia that sold Hoshi-brand patent medicines, hygiene products, and household goods. In 1925, however, the company's fortunes turned for the worse when an opium trading violation raised suspicions of Hoshi as a front for the smuggling of narcotics through Manchuria and China. Although the company was a key supplier of medicines to Japan's military during World War Two, it could not financially recover from the fallout of the opium scandal.
    [Show full text]
  • The Last Tax: Henry George and the Social Politics of Land Reform in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
    The Last Tax: Henry George and the Social Politics of Land Reform in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University Department of History Michael Willrich, Advisor In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy By Alexandra Wagner Lough August 2013 This dissertation, directed and approved by Alexandra Wagner Lough’s Committee, has been accepted and approved by the Faculty of Brandeis University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of: DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Malcolm Watson, Dean Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Committee: Michael Willrich, Department of History Mark Hulliung, Department of History Daniel T. Rodgers, Department of History, Princeton University Copyright 2013 Alexandra Wagner Lough Doctor of Philosophy Acknowledgments This project properly began in 2004 when I was an undergraduate at the University of Pacific in Stockton, California and decided to write a history thesis on Henry George. As such, it seems fitting to begin by thanking my two favorite professors at Pacific, Caroline Cox and Robert Benedetti. Their work inspired my own and their encouragement and advice led me to pursue graduate work in history at Brandeis University. I am forever grateful for their support. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been admitted into the Ph.D. program in American History at Brandeis. Not only have I received top-notch instruction from brilliant faculty, but I also have received generous funding. I want to extend my gratitude to Rose and Irving Crown and the Crown family for the fellowship that financed my graduate education.
    [Show full text]
  • Antitrust: Discussion of Ideas Among Legislators and Who Has to Follow the Law
    1 ANTITRUST: DISCUSSION OF IDEAS AMONG LEGISLATORS AND WHO HAS TO FOLLOW THE LAW XVIe colloque Charles Gide. 14-16 abril 2016 Strasbourg, France Author: Ana Rosado. Complutense University of Madrid, Spain [email protected] Abstract The internalization of market transactions was the strategy of the majority of American companies at the end of the nineteenth century in order to increase the productivity and to reduce costs. Until 1880 the biggest American firms internalized suppliers and since 1890 included distribution, at the same time, the entrepreneurs amassed impressive fortunes. As a result the problem of trust became a moral issue, supported by the fact that society wealth has been transferred from customers to richest men. In this context a few debates took place among the American economists: first, a theoretical debate referred to prevention of monopolization of industry; second debate about the convenience of reform of the institutions and the origins of the FTC, and finally the control of economy by states. In this paper we tried to shade light about the economic arguments for and against to restrain the power of big American companies. Keywords: Antitrust, American History of Economic Thought, Markets Imperfections, Competition and Law. JEL code: B-21; K-21; D-43 2 I. INTRODUCTION At the end of the XIX century American firms shaped their structure into multidivisional companies and some of them became trusts. Many authors began to be worried about the size that these companies had reached; one of these authors was John Bates Clark. Indeed, he gave his name to the prelude price for the Nobel Prize for Economics.
    [Show full text]
  • Religious Reflection on the Rise of Economic Inequality
    Growing Apart Religious Reflection on the Rise of Economic Inequality Edited by Kate Ward and Kenneth Himes Printed Edition of the Special Issue Published in Religions www.mdpi.com/journal/religions Growing Apart Growing Apart Religious Reflection on the Rise of Economic Inequality Special Issue Editors Kate Ward Kenneth Himes MDPI • Basel • Beijing • Wuhan • Barcelona • Belgrade Special Issue Editors Kate Ward Kenneth Himes Marquette University Boston College USA USA Editorial Office MDPI St. Alban-Anlage 66 4052 Basel, Switzerland This is a reprint of articles from the Special Issue published online in the open access journal Religions (ISSN 2077-1444) in 2017 (available at: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special issues/ economic inequality) For citation purposes, cite each article independently as indicated on the article page online and as indicated below: LastName, A.A.; LastName, B.B.; LastName, C.C. Article Title. Journal Name Year, Article Number, Page Range. ISBN 978-3-03842-577-9 (Pbk) ISBN 978-3-03842-578-6 (PDF) c 2019 by the authors. Articles in this book are Open Access and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. The book as a whole is distributed by MDPI under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND. Contents About the Special Issue Editors ..................................... vii Kenneth Himes and Kate Ward Introduction to This Issue Reprinted from: Religions 2017, 8, 58, doi:10.3390/rel8040058 ....................
    [Show full text]
  • The Morality of Money: American Attitudes Toward Wealth and the Income Tax
    Indiana Law Journal Volume 70 Issue 1 Article 5 Winter 1994 The Morality Of Money: American Attitudes Toward Wealth and the Income Tax Marjorie E. Kornhauser Tulane Law School Follow this and additional works at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ilj Part of the Taxation-Federal Commons, and the Tax Law Commons Recommended Citation Kornhauser, Marjorie E. (1994) "The Morality Of Money: American Attitudes Toward Wealth and the Income Tax," Indiana Law Journal: Vol. 70 : Iss. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ilj/vol70/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School Journals at Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Indiana Law Journal by an authorized editor of Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Morality Of Money: American Attitudes Toward Wealth and the Income Taxt MARJORIE E. KORNHAUSER* Wealth fascinates Americans. Alexis de Tocqueville said in 1835: "'The love of wealth is... at the bottom of all that the Americans do. "" In reality, American feelings about wealth are much more complex and ambiguous than Tocqueville claims. Americans fear and disdain wealth as well as love it.' We differentiate types of money and wealth, despite the economists' claims that all money is fungible. In particular, Americans imbue earned income with an aura of morality and virtuousness that unearned income, particularly inherited income, does not have.' Consequently, we Americans admire the person who acquires her wealth by means of her own talent and industry, while at the t Q 1993 by Marjorie E.
    [Show full text]
  • Antitrust in the Formative Era: Political and Economic Theory in Constitutional and Antitrust Analysis, 1880-1918*
    Antitrust in the Formative Era: Political and Economic Theory in Constitutional and Antitrust Analysis, 1880-1918* JAMES MAy** TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................... 258 II. THE CONCEPTUAL CONTEXT OF FEDERAL AND STATE ANTITRUST ANALYSIS: LAISSEZ-FAIRE CONSTITUTIONALISM AND CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC THEORY ..................................................... 262 A. State Power and PrivateRight in Contemporary Constitutional Adjudication ....................................................... 262 B. Political and Economic Perspective in Contemporary Jurisprudence ..................................................... 269 1. The Interrelationof Political and Economic Theory .......... 269 2. The Natural Laws and Just Harmonies of Classical Economics .................................................... 270 3. Security, Freedom, and State Power in Political Liberalism and Classical Economics ..................................... 275 4. Laissez-FaireConstitutionalism and Political, Moral, and Economic Theory ............................................. 277 C. TraditionalTheory and New Realities in Progressive Era Am erica ........................................................... 281 D. The Economic and Intellectual Origins of Early Antitrust Law .... 283 II. THE LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE FEDERAL ANTITRUST LAWS AND THE CURRENT DEBATE OVER CONGRESSIONAL GOALS ......................... 288 IV. JUDICIAL INTERPRETATION OF THE SHERMAN ACT ......................... 300 V. STATE JURISPRUDENCE
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter XVI. Clubs, Lodges, Social and Other Organizations
    CHAPTER XVI CLUBS, LODGES, SOCIAL AND OTHER ORGANIZATION S Y. M. C . A ., Boys ' Club, Home for Aged People and Similar Institutions . Quequechan Club , and Masonic and Other Lodges. The Militia . Labor Union s and Labor Troubles The leading club in the city is the Queque - in 1868, with George B . Durfee president . chan, which has a large and comfortabl e He was succeeded by E . C . Nason in 1870 , house on North Main street, where nearl y Leroy Sargent in 1873, Ray G . Ruling and all the distinguished visitors to the city J. H . Pierce. The work was discontinue d have been entertained in recent years . Amon g in 1880 . these have been the Honourable Artil- The present association was formed eight lery Company, of London, when it was th e years later, in 1888, with James F . Jackso n guest of the Ancient and Honorable Artil- president, Andrew J . Jennings vice-presi- lery Company of Boston ; the delegations o f dent, W. Frank Shove recording secretary, prominent Filipinos who visited the Unite d and Enoch J . French treasurer . Mr . Jack- States as the guests of the nation, and Gov- son was succeeded in 1891 by Rev . Percy S . ernors and other high dignitaries . The Grant, who held office till the fall of 1893 , club was formed in 1893 in part as a succes- when he resigned to remove to New York . sor of the old Commercial Club, with 2 5 A movement to raise funds for a buildin g charter members, of whom William F . was started at this time, and about $19,00 0 Hooper, James E .
    [Show full text]
  • Lester F. Ward: Applied Sociology (1906)
    Lester F. Ward: Applied Sociology (1906) [i] APPLIED SOCIOLOGY A TREATISE ON THE CONSCIOUS IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIETY BY SOCIETY BY LESTER F. WARD L’application est la pierre de touche de Toute doctrine. – ADOLPHE COSTE Seite 2 von 408 Lester F. Ward: Applied Sociology (1906) [ii] COPYRIGHT, 1906 BY LESTER F. WARD ________ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED GINN & COMPANY Boston – New York – Chicago – London 1906 Seite 3 von 408 Lester F. Ward: Applied Sociology (1906) [iii] PREFACE This work and its predecessor, Pure Sociology, constitute together a system of sociology, and these, with Dynamic Sociology, The Psychic Factors of Civilization, and the Outlines of Sociology, make up a more comprehensive system of social philosophy. Should any reader acquaint himself with the whole, he will find it not only consistent with itself, but progressive in the sense that each successive volume carries the subject a step farther with a minimum of repetition or duplicate treatment. The central thought is that of a true science of society, capable, in the measure that it approaches completeness, of being turned to the profit of mankind. If there is one respect in which it differs more than in others from rival systems of philosophy it is in its practical character of never losing sight of the end or purpose, nor of the possibilities of conscious effort. It is a reaction against the philosophy of despair that has come to dominate even the most enlightened scientific thought. It aims to point out a remedy for the general paralysis that is creeping over the world, and which a too narrow conception of the law of cosmic evolution serves rather to increase than to diminish.
    [Show full text]
  • The Progressive Era Th E Mises Institute Dedicates This Volume to All of Its Generous Supporters and Wishes to Thank These, in Particular
    The Progressive Era Th e Mises Institute dedicates this volume to all of its generous Supporters and wishes to thank these, in particular: Benefactors Susan B. McNiel, Mr. and Mrs. Donald M. Rembert, Sr., Steven R. Berger Mr. and Mrs. Gary J. Turpanjian, Juliana and Hunter Hastings Ryan Schmitt in Memory of William Norman Grigg Yousif Almoayyed and Budoor Kazim Patrons Anonymous, Behfar and Peiying Bastani in honor of those known and unknown who fi ght for liberty, Wayne Chapeskie, Carl S. Creager Th omas and Lisa Dierl, Reza Ektefaie, Willard and Donna Fischer Kevin R. Griffi n, Jeff and Jamie Haenggi, Jule R. Herbert, Jr. Albert L. Hillman, Jr., Hunter Lewis and Elizabeth Sidamon-Eristoff Arnold Lisio, MD in Memory of Margit von Mises, Arthur L. Loeb David McClain, Joseph Edward Paul Melville, Michael L. Merritt Gregory and Joy Morin, James Nardulli, Chris and Melodie Rufer, Leif Smith Dr. Th omas L. Wenck, Brian J. Wilton, Walter and Sharon Woodul III Donors Anonymous, Wesley and Terri Alexander Th omas T. Amlie making amends for grandfather Th omas Ryum Amlie William H. Anderson, John Bartel, Dr. Th omas Beazlie, Ryan Best Bob and Rita Bost, Rémi Boudreau, John Boyer, Michael L. Burks John L. Buttolph III, Prof. Paul Cantor, Terence Corcoran, Jim and Cherie Cox Paul Dietrich, Randall Dollahon and Kathleen Lacey, Jeff ery M. Doty Prof. Frank van Dun, Bill Eaton, David J. Emery, Eric Englund, John Rock Foster Dietmar Georg, Christopher Georgacas, Kevin Paul Hamilton Charles F. Hanes, Sheldon Hayer, Wilfrid Helms, Dr. Frederic Herman Adam W. Hogan, Greg E.
    [Show full text]
  • Ellen Richards's Home Economics Movement And
    ELLEN RICHARDS’S HOME ECONOMICS MOVEMENT AND THE BIRTH OF THE ECONOMICS OF CONSUMPTION BY DAVID PHILIPPY* Abstract In 1899, MIT chemist Ellen H. Richards (1842–1911) instigated a series of annual “Lake Placid Conferences” (1899–1908) that became known as the foundation of the home economics movement. Richards’s first interest was in improving the household’s well-being by using sanitary and nutrition sciences, an objective that was passed on to the movement. However, by the 1920s, home economists rather identified their field of expertise as the “science of consumption,” emphasizing the idea of “rational consumption.” My aim in this article is to give an account of how this shift in focus came about, by telling the story of the home economics movement founded by Richards. I examine how the movement problematized consumption by highlighting its relationship and perception of itself regarding economics. I argue that the concept of consumption was central to the structuring of the movement from its beginning and allowed home economists to claim it as their field of expertise because, as they believed, economists were not addressing the issue. * Université de Lausanne, Walras-Pareto Center. Contact: [email protected] This “preprint” is the peer-reviewed and accepted typescript of an article that is forthcoming in revised form, after minor editorial changes, in the Journal of the History of Economic Thought (ISSN: 1053-8372), issue TBA. Copyright to the journal’s articles is held by the History of Economics Society (HES), whose exclusive licensee and publisher for the journal is Cambridge University Press. (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-history-of-economic-thought) This preprint may be used only for private research and study and is not to be distributed further.
    [Show full text]
  • Lump of Labour – Which Can Be Shared out in Different Ways to Create
    Why Economists Dislike a Lump of Labor by the Sandwichman One of the best-known fallacies in economics is the notion that there is a fixed amount of work to be done – a lump of labour – which can be shared out in different ways to create fewer or more jobs (Bishop 2004, 159). The regulation of working time has been a controversial topic since at least the second decade of the nineteenth century when the Ten Hours Movement was active in Great Britain. How the hours of work are determined in the absence of direct government regulation is also controversial, with neoclassical economists arguing that the individual supply of labor time is based on workers’ choices between income and leisure while Marxists and institutionalists maintain that political power, institutional structures and class conflict are decisive (Philp et al. 2005). Over the course of the twentieth century, an odd polemic has become a commonplace in the discourse of mainstream economics. That polemic is based on the claim that policies aimed at creating employment through limiting the hours of work stem from the mistaken belief that there is a fixed amount of work to be done. Economists call this allegedly widespread delusion the ‘lump-of-labor fallacy.’ Recently, denunciations of the lump-of-labor fallacy have surfaced in debates about attempts by European governments to combat joblessness through policies that reduce working time, such as the 35-hour workweek introduced in France in the late 1990s. This article catalogs some of those recent flare-ups and examines the substance, history and possible consequences for policy deliberation of the claim.
    [Show full text]
  • The Goals of Antitrust and Competition Policy Stephen Martin Purdue University
    Purdue University Purdue e-Pubs Purdue CIBER Working Papers Krannert Graduate School of Management 1-1-2007 The Goals of Antitrust and Competition Policy Stephen Martin Purdue University Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/ciberwp Martin, Stephen, "The Goals of Antitrust and Competition Policy" (2007). Purdue CIBER Working Papers. Paper 48. http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/ciberwp/48 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. The Goals of Antitrust and Competition Policy Stephen Martin Department of Economics Purdue University 2007­003 Goals0707Cmu.doc The Goals of Antitrust and Competition Policy Stephen Martin* Department of Economics Purdue University 403 West State Street West Lafayette, Indiana 47907­2056, USA [email protected] July 2007 Abstract U.S. antitrust policy and EC competition policy began at different times and in very different contexts. U.S. antitrust at first pursued multiple economic and political goals. Against a persistent, if cyclical, campaign that it was at best unnecessary and at worst absolutely harmful, antitrust developed first a reliance on competition in the sense of rivalry to promote good market performance and has lately moved to explicit welfare evaluation, in an economic sense, as a policy standard. How one ought to measure market performance (consumer welfare or net social welfare) remains a subject of discussion. Use of the economic welfare standard is, at this writing, characterized by judicial application that is inconsistent with mainstream economics. EC competition policy long relied on competition in the sense of rivalry to promote market integration and good market performance, the two goals being thought to be largely compatible.
    [Show full text]