Book Reviews
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Book Reviews Input-output economics tions the BLS-constructed table for 1939, labor-intensive. Albert Steenge pro- which the Bureau used to make projec- poses an alternative to Leontief’s Wassily Leontief and Input-Output Eco- tions about the postwar economy. To path-breaking model of pollution. nomics. Edited by Erik Dietzenbacher the surprise of many people, these indi- Lawrence R. Klein, who pioneered the and Michael L. Lahr. New York, Cam- cated that the demand for steel would use of input-output tables in econo- bridge University Press, 2004, 418 pp., remain strong (because of the direct and metric models, and two colleagues $80/hardcover. indirect steel content in consumer present estimates of KLEMI (capital, durables), and that proved to be cor- labor, energy, materials, and informa- Many economists know that Wassily rect. Faye Duchin offers a nuanced ac- tion) production functions. Although Leontief—the Russian-born, German- count of how Leontief’s thinking about Leontief did not embrace regression educated, decades-long member of the international trade evolved away from models, he could hardly disagree with Harvard faculty—won a Nobel Prize, but equilibrium models toward models that the epigraph that begins the chapter few of them recognize how much his could be used to explore alternative sce- by Klein, Duggal, and Saltzman. It work has changed economics. After narios. She also summarizes the diverse says that the quantification of inter- Leontief’s death in 1999, the editors of reactions to Leontief’s surprising dis- industry transactions can be “conse- this volume organized a memorial ses- covery (made with the BLS-constructed quential” for practical purposes. sion and invited contributions from a table for 1947) that American exports Some of the other contributions to Part number of his colleagues and former stu- were labor-intensive—a finding that is II are purely theoretical exercises that dents. As the editors explain in a brief still generating new models and empiri- have little substantive connection preface, the papers written for that con- cal studies. Andrew Brody and Anne P. with Leontief’s research. ference form the first part of this book, Carter take a personal approach, com- In short, the first part of the book and they offer a number of perspec- paring Leontief with Joseph Schumpeter. presents stimulating perspectives on tives, not always harmonious, on While these two European intellectuals one of the giants of 20th-century eco- Leontief’s work. The second part, ac- had different ways of doing economics, nomics. The second part is more spe- cording to the editors, presents “new dynamics and changes in technology cialized and less easy to evaluate. scientific research following the lines” interested both of them. Brody and pioneered by Leontief. Carter describe some younger econo- In the first chapter, Paul Samuelson mists who use input-output relation- —Martin Kohli reminisces about his professor’s rigor- ships to track the diffusion of innova- Bureau of Labor Statistics, ous approach to price theory and his tions. One of the economists they cite, New York region early work on international trade and Chris DeBresson, concludes the book’s nonlinear dynamics. Samuelson notes first part with an interview that he con- grudgingly that Leontief devoted his ducted with Wassily and Estelle middle and later decades to input-out- Leontief. It touches on some of the Labor goes to the movies put economics, work that was the basis methodological themes raised by for the Nobel Prize. Samuelson suggests Polenske, the relationship with the Working Stiffs, Union Maids, Reds, and that Leontief could have found better Schumpeters, and Leontief’s enthusi- Riffraff: An Expanded Guide to Films uses for his time—a criticism that tells asm for trout fishing. For reasons of about Labor. By Tom Zaniello. us as much about Samuelson as it does space, it is not possible to comment on Ithaca, NY, ILR Press, 2003, 434 pp., about Leontief. all the chapters. $52.50/cloth; $24.95/paperback. The other eight contributors to Part I The ten contributions to Part II avoid striking such discordant notes. shift the focus away from Leontief the It had to happen. Working is such a Karen Polenske stresses his unusual person and toward current research major part of most of our lives that it is views on methodology. Leontief re- along the lines he pioneered. The con- only natural filmmakers would find work- jected the separation of theory building nections between present (as repre- ing and workers a rich subject to explore. and empirical work. For him, theories sented in Part II) and past research are The greater surprise is that there are not were frameworks for understanding how clearer in some chapters than others. more films focused on the activity that systems work. Polenske points out that Exploring some of the same issues takes up a majority of our waking hours. this approach made possible the discov- Leontief did, Edward Wolff’s study of So it should not come as a surprise that ery of a number of facts about the U.S. the factor intensity of U.S. trade con- someone has attempted to catalog films economy. As one example, she men- firms that U.S. exports remain relatively about labor. In fact, it has happened at Monthly Labor Review March 2005 55 Book Reviews least twice—this is Tom Zaniello’s sec- tal. Not surprisingly, he includes such films that are probably only known ond attempt to catalog films of this classics as Norma Rae and The Full today to a few thousand people world- genre. Set in alphabetical order by film Monty, although in reality, many of his wide, such as the 1932 classic, Land title, each review includes basic infor- films are small films or documentaries without Bread. Most of the films in mation about the cast and crew, a re- not known to the general public. the book are not readily available at view of the movie, and references for Looking through the titles, al- your neighborhood video store, but further reading. He also includes a chro- though he calls this an expanded many of them can be found using the nological list to give the reader some guide, he means it is expanded from Internet, and Zaniello includes a list context of how the films relate to each his first edition, not that his definition of sources for the reader interested in other over time. of labor has expanded. His criteria tracking down these titles. At first, it seems an easy task, but tend to favor subjects that focused on Putting together the list is itself the as you delve into the subject the com- organized labor, as opposed to a wider greatest value of this book. The book plexities become apparent. What char- definition of labor. So, he includes brings together in one place movies acterizes a film as being worthy of in- Sylvester Stallone’s F.I.S.T. but not lost to the current generation and re- clusion in a guide to the cinema? Double Indemnity, the dark film noir minds us of the drama and humor im- There are lots of films that include pic- story that revolves around Fred plicit in working. Most readers will tures of working men and women, but MacMurray as an insurance agent out have found that they have seen one usually their work is only a small part to cheat his company through murder or more of these films at some time in of the plot. Do you include the Tom and insurance fraud. Both revolve their life and realize how many they Hanks/Meg Ryan film You’ve Got Mail around the dark side of work and la- have missed. Whether or not it spurs whose plot is driven by the competi- bor, but the lack of a union connec- the reader to explore this rich depth of tion between a small bookstore owner tion in the Billy Wilder film appears to creative work, Working Stiffs is both a and a bookstore chain? Zaniello’s keep it from being included in the book. valuable reference work and an enjoy- answer would be no, as he does not Unlike the films mentioned above, able book in its own right. include this in his list. Instead, he sets the second difficulty that Tom Zaniello out his criteria to include films about faced was the relative obscurity of unions and labor organizations, labor many of the movies. In his Introduc- —Michael Wald history, working-class life, political tion, he discusses how he learned movements tied to organized labor, about these various films, but it is still Bureau of Labor Statistics, and struggles between labor and capi- amazing that he was able to include Atlanta region 56 Monthly Labor Review March 2005.