This book offers a new interpretation of the Employment Act of 1946. It argues that in addition to Keynesian economics, the idea of a living wage was also part of the background leading up to the Employment Act. The Act mandated that the president prepare an Economic Report on the state of the economy and how to improve it, and the idea of a living wage was an essential issue in those Economic Reports for over two decades. The author argues that macroeconomic policy in the USA consisted of a dual approach of using a living wage to increase consumption with higher wages, and fiscal policy to create jobs and higher levels of consumption, therefore forming a hybrid system of redistributive economics. An important read for scholars of economic history, this book explores Roosevelt’s role in the debates over the Employment Act in the 1940s, and underlines how Truman’s Fair Deal, Kennedy’s New Frontier and Johnson’s Great Society all had the ultimate goal of a living wage, despite their variations of its definition and name.
This book tells the story behind President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s use of the phrase "living wage" in a variety of speeches, letters, and statements, and examines the degree to which programs of the New Deal reflected the ideas of a living wage movement that existed in the US for almost three decades before Roosevelt was elected president. Far from being a side issue, the previously unexplored living wage debate sheds light on the New Deal philosophy of social justice by identifying the value judgments behind its policies. Moving chronologically through history, this book's highlights include the revelation of a living wage agenda under the War Industry Board (WIB)'s National War Labor Board (NWLB) during World War I, the unearthing of long-forgotten literature from the 1920s and 30s that formed the foundation of Roosevelt's statements on a living wage, and the examination of contemporary studies that used a simple living wage formula combining collective bargaining, social insurance, and minimum wage as a standard for social justice used to measure the impact of New Deal polices.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who cares about poverty and wants to know what economists have said about its connections with the labor market and to consider whether voluntary or government wage norms would be a wise, just, and effective way to reduce poverty. Economists should recommend this book to those who doubt that economists have values. Many professional economists could also use a good review of how their discipline has dealt with the ideas of just, fair, living, and minimal-wage rates. The book would make an excellent supplementary text for a history of economic thought class. Thanks to Stabile for providing a full treatment of such an important intellectual, social, and moral issue. Robin Klay, Journal of Markets & Morality . . . this is a fine addition to the history of economic thought and should be required reading for economists since it reminds us that economics was originally subsumed under the larger disciplinary umbrella of political economy and moral philosophy. Oren M. Levin-Waldman, Industrial and Labor Relations Review Stabile does us a valuable service by laying aside nebulous questions about justice and focusing on specific economic issues. In the process, he offers a compact, well-organized tour of the idea of a living wage in the history of economic thought. It is a book that deserves the attention of economists and scholars working on the history of ideas, as well as anyone contributing to debates over wage policy. Art Carden, EH.Net For the last decade a movement for providing workers with a living wage has been growing in the US. This book describes how great thinkers in the history of economic thought viewed the living wage and highlights how the ideas of the early economists such as Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill support the idea of a living wage and contrast with the ideas of more recent free-market economists who do not. The lessons we can learn from the contrasting ideas of both the early and recent economists will help us to think more clearly about the issues surrounding whether, how and why workers should be paid a living wage. The book reviews the history of economic ideas related to the idea of the living wage. It presents a debate between two ideologies, the moral economy and the market economy, as captured by the need to sustain the workforce, enhance its capability and avoid the externality effects of low wages. It is unique in that it applies these concepts exclusively to labor. The book also breaks new ground by presenting Adam Smith as a moral economist who anticipated many of the arguments set forth by modern day advocates of the living wage. It shows how successive economic thinkers added to Smith s arguments for a living (subsistence) wage or found fault with those arguments. Throughout the book Donald Stabile draws out the lessons that this history of the economic thought about adequate wages has for the modern living wage movement. Economists interested in the history of economic thought and labor issues will find this book a compelling read, as will academics and community groups advocating for a living wage.
The economists who began using statistics to analyze financial markets in the 1950s have been credited with revolutionizing the scholarship of investing and with inaugurating modern financial economics. By examining the work of economists who used statistics to analyze financial markets before 1950, Donald Stabile provides evidence about the forerunners of modern financial economics. In studying these predecessors, this innovative book reveals that, starting around 1900, there were economists in the United States who believed that changes in stock prices could be treated as a random variable to be analyzed with statistical methods, and who used early versions of the efficient markets theory to justify their belief. Although they did not call themselves Bayesians, the author explores how they adhered to a philosophy consistent with Bayesian statistics. A concluding epilogue considers the linkages between the forerunners of modern finance, its innovators and modern successors. An original work in the history of economic thought, Forerunners of Modern Financial Economics will be of great interest to both economists and historians interested in the development of statistical finance and economic thought, as well as to statisticians, financial analysts, and advanced undergraduate and graduate students studying financial economics.
There is much to be praised in this book. It is interesting and compelling reading. . . Economics, Competition and Academia is a well written book and well worth reading. It provides a coherent perspective of the main avenues by which societies have provided resources for higher education over many centuries. The views of prominent philosophers and economists on the economics of higher education have been highlighted as well. I recommend that it be read by anyone interested in the economics of higher education. James R. Wible, History of Economic Ideas In this exceptionally well written and highly perceptive book, Stabile has provided a unique perspective on the continuing debate over whether universities should be funded from non-fee sources (endowments, public funding) or from fees. He locates the philosophical roots of that debate in ancient Greece, with the sophists selling their services as teachers for fees and Plato and Aristotle virtuously teaching without fees (made possible by personal wealth). He then traces how virtue and sophism became entangled and morphed into various hybrid arrangements throughout the development of modern universities. As universities continue to evolve in their perceptions of how to match their functions to the ever-changing sets of financial constraints and opportunities, the relevance of this book will continue to grow. It should be on the must read list for all who are involved in modern higher education. Charles G. Leathers, University of Alabama, US Anyone interested in the important, current debate over assessing educational outcomes should read this book. It offers important historical perspectives on the value of education. Understanding the different points of view on the value of education is the first step in assessing what outcomes one wants to achieve with current education policies. Andrew F. Kozak, St. Mary s College of Maryland, US Stabile pulls together in one study of reasonable size the threads of higher education that span the centuries from ancient Greece to the twenty-first century United States. While readers may or may not agree with his conclusions, they will discover links between the past and the present and clues to the future of American higher education. David O. Whitten, Auburn University, US Donald Stabile places current concerns over the commercialization of academia in a historical context by describing the long-standing question of the extent to which market economics can and should be applied to higher education. The debate between Plato and Aristotle on one side and sophists on the other provides a foundation for the modern debate of endowment versus tuition models. The author tackles the intellectual discourse over the mission of higher education and the effect markets and competition might have on it. The discussion encompasses the ideas on higher education of leading economic thinkers such as Adam Smith, Jeremy Benthan, John Stuart Mill, Alfred Marshall, Thorstein Veblen and John K. Galbraith and identifies them as supporters of either sophism or virtue. Included, too, are the thoughts of educators and policymakers influenced by free market ideas, such as Benjamin Rush, Francis Wayland and Charles W. Eliot, as well as those opposed to them. In addition, the author explores the development of collegiate business schools in the US and how they were justified on the basis of virtue. The book concludes with a section on for-profit colleges and their relationship to sophism. This fascinating study of the centuries-old intellectual debate over the mission of academia will appeal to all those involved with higher education. Historians of economic thought will find the influence of economic ideas on this debate of great interest.
First Published in 1994. Sol Barkin was never an elected official in the trade union movement, but for twenty-six years, from 1937 until he retired in 1963. His role also saw him serve on government advisory bodies, originate public policy in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, lead the Industrial Relations Research Association, and teach in an American university.
This book offers a new interpretation of the Employment Act of 1946. It argues that in addition to Keynesian economics, the idea of a living wage was also part of the background leading up to the Employment Act. The Act mandated that the president prepare an Economic Report on the state of the economy and how to improve it, and the idea of a living wage was an essential issue in those Economic Reports for over two decades. The author argues that macroeconomic policy in the USA consisted of a dual approach of using a living wage to increase consumption with higher wages, and fiscal policy to create jobs and higher levels of consumption, therefore forming a hybrid system of redistributive economics. An important read for scholars of economic history, this book explores Roosevelt’s role in the debates over the Employment Act in the 1940s, and underlines how Truman’s Fair Deal, Kennedy’s New Frontier and Johnson’s Great Society all had the ultimate goal of a living wage, despite their variations of its definition and name.
The economists who began using statistics to analyze financial markets in the 1950s have been credited with revolutionizing the scholarship of investing and with inaugurating modern financial economics. By examining the work of economists who used statistics to analyze financial markets before 1950, Donald Stabile provides evidence about the forerunners of modern financial economics. In studying these predecessors, this innovative book reveals that, starting around 1900, there were economists in the United States who believed that changes in stock prices could be treated as a random variable to be analyzed with statistical methods, and who used early versions of the efficient markets theory to justify their belief. Although they did not call themselves Bayesians, the author explores how they adhered to a philosophy consistent with Bayesian statistics. A concluding epilogue considers the linkages between the forerunners of modern finance, its innovators and modern successors. An original work in the history of economic thought, Forerunners of Modern Financial Economics will be of great interest to both economists and historians interested in the development of statistical finance and economic thought, as well as to statisticians, financial analysts, and advanced undergraduate and graduate students studying financial economics.
Throughout history human beings have formed communities spontaneously with residences constructed haphazardly. Today a new type of community is emerging—one planned from the start regarding housing location, style, and governance. These Community Associations (CAs) have increased in number from 500 in 1960 to 205,000 in 1998. This book explores the issues surrounding this housing innovation and provides a history of community associations and their membership organization, the Community Associations Institute (CAI). The book explores the process of trial and error in the design of CAs and how the CAI was set up to help them work. It opens with a consideration of the economics of land, housing, and community associations; explores the social, intellectual, legal background for CAs; and surveys their development in the United States. After considering the FHA's role, the book focuses on the development of the CAI .
First Published in 1994. Sol Barkin was never an elected official in the trade union movement, but for twenty-six years, from 1937 until he retired in 1963. His role also saw him serve on government advisory bodies, originate public policy in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, lead the Industrial Relations Research Association, and teach in an American university.
There is much to be praised in this book. It is interesting and compelling reading. . . Economics, Competition and Academia is a well written book and well worth reading. It provides a coherent perspective of the main avenues by which societies have provided resources for higher education over many centuries. The views of prominent philosophers and economists on the economics of higher education have been highlighted as well. I recommend that it be read by anyone interested in the economics of higher education. James R. Wible, History of Economic Ideas In this exceptionally well written and highly perceptive book, Stabile has provided a unique perspective on the continuing debate over whether universities should be funded from non-fee sources (endowments, public funding) or from fees. He locates the philosophical roots of that debate in ancient Greece, with the sophists selling their services as teachers for fees and Plato and Aristotle virtuously teaching without fees (made possible by personal wealth). He then traces how virtue and sophism became entangled and morphed into various hybrid arrangements throughout the development of modern universities. As universities continue to evolve in their perceptions of how to match their functions to the ever-changing sets of financial constraints and opportunities, the relevance of this book will continue to grow. It should be on the must read list for all who are involved in modern higher education. Charles G. Leathers, University of Alabama, US Anyone interested in the important, current debate over assessing educational outcomes should read this book. It offers important historical perspectives on the value of education. Understanding the different points of view on the value of education is the first step in assessing what outcomes one wants to achieve with current education policies. Andrew F. Kozak, St. Mary s College of Maryland, US Stabile pulls together in one study of reasonable size the threads of higher education that span the centuries from ancient Greece to the twenty-first century United States. While readers may or may not agree with his conclusions, they will discover links between the past and the present and clues to the future of American higher education. David O. Whitten, Auburn University, US Donald Stabile places current concerns over the commercialization of academia in a historical context by describing the long-standing question of the extent to which market economics can and should be applied to higher education. The debate between Plato and Aristotle on one side and sophists on the other provides a foundation for the modern debate of endowment versus tuition models. The author tackles the intellectual discourse over the mission of higher education and the effect markets and competition might have on it. The discussion encompasses the ideas on higher education of leading economic thinkers such as Adam Smith, Jeremy Benthan, John Stuart Mill, Alfred Marshall, Thorstein Veblen and John K. Galbraith and identifies them as supporters of either sophism or virtue. Included, too, are the thoughts of educators and policymakers influenced by free market ideas, such as Benjamin Rush, Francis Wayland and Charles W. Eliot, as well as those opposed to them. In addition, the author explores the development of collegiate business schools in the US and how they were justified on the basis of virtue. The book concludes with a section on for-profit colleges and their relationship to sophism. This fascinating study of the centuries-old intellectual debate over the mission of academia will appeal to all those involved with higher education. Historians of economic thought will find the influence of economic ideas on this debate of great interest.
A ground-breaking examination of technocracy from the early progressive movement, the Taylorites, and Veblen to Galbraith and contemporary proponents of economic democracy.
This book tells the story behind President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s use of the phrase "living wage" in a variety of speeches, letters, and statements, and examines the degree to which programs of the New Deal reflected the ideas of a living wage movement that existed in the US for almost three decades before Roosevelt was elected president. Far from being a side issue, the previously unexplored living wage debate sheds light on the New Deal philosophy of social justice by identifying the value judgments behind its policies. Moving chronologically through history, this book's highlights include the revelation of a living wage agenda under the War Industry Board (WIB)'s National War Labor Board (NWLB) during World War I, the unearthing of long-forgotten literature from the 1920s and 30s that formed the foundation of Roosevelt's statements on a living wage, and the examination of contemporary studies that used a simple living wage formula combining collective bargaining, social insurance, and minimum wage as a standard for social justice used to measure the impact of New Deal polices.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who cares about poverty and wants to know what economists have said about its connections with the labor market and to consider whether voluntary or government wage norms would be a wise, just, and effective way to reduce poverty. Economists should recommend this book to those who doubt that economists have values. Many professional economists could also use a good review of how their discipline has dealt with the ideas of just, fair, living, and minimal-wage rates. The book would make an excellent supplementary text for a history of economic thought class. Thanks to Stabile for providing a full treatment of such an important intellectual, social, and moral issue. Robin Klay, Journal of Markets & Morality . . . this is a fine addition to the history of economic thought and should be required reading for economists since it reminds us that economics was originally subsumed under the larger disciplinary umbrella of political economy and moral philosophy. Oren M. Levin-Waldman, Industrial and Labor Relations Review Stabile does us a valuable service by laying aside nebulous questions about justice and focusing on specific economic issues. In the process, he offers a compact, well-organized tour of the idea of a living wage in the history of economic thought. It is a book that deserves the attention of economists and scholars working on the history of ideas, as well as anyone contributing to debates over wage policy. Art Carden, EH.Net For the last decade a movement for providing workers with a living wage has been growing in the US. This book describes how great thinkers in the history of economic thought viewed the living wage and highlights how the ideas of the early economists such as Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill support the idea of a living wage and contrast with the ideas of more recent free-market economists who do not. The lessons we can learn from the contrasting ideas of both the early and recent economists will help us to think more clearly about the issues surrounding whether, how and why workers should be paid a living wage. The book reviews the history of economic ideas related to the idea of the living wage. It presents a debate between two ideologies, the moral economy and the market economy, as captured by the need to sustain the workforce, enhance its capability and avoid the externality effects of low wages. It is unique in that it applies these concepts exclusively to labor. The book also breaks new ground by presenting Adam Smith as a moral economist who anticipated many of the arguments set forth by modern day advocates of the living wage. It shows how successive economic thinkers added to Smith s arguments for a living (subsistence) wage or found fault with those arguments. Throughout the book Donald Stabile draws out the lessons that this history of the economic thought about adequate wages has for the modern living wage movement. Economists interested in the history of economic thought and labor issues will find this book a compelling read, as will academics and community groups advocating for a living wage.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.