Macroeconomic Policy and a Living Wage (eBook)

Donald R. Stabile is Professor of Economics at St. Mary's College of Maryland, USA, where he has taught for nearly 40 years. He is the author or co-author of 12 previous books, including The Political Economy of a Living Wage (2016), and scholarly articles on the history of political economy.

Preface 5
Acknowledgments 9
Contents 12
Abbreviations 16
1: The Hybrid System of Redistributive Economics 17
Macroeconomic Policy and a Living Wage 18
Paul H. Douglas and the Hybrid System of Redistributive Economics 29
Conclusion 36
References 39
2: Background of the Employment Act I: A Living Wage 43
The Political Economy of a Living Wage 44
Collective Bargaining 49
Macroeconomic Policy 54
A Minimum Wage 56
Social Insurance 58
The New Deal: Reform and Recovery 60
Roosevelt and Keynes 64
Fiscal Policy Expands Under Roosevelt 69
Conclusion 72
References 77
3: Background of the Employment Act II: Keynesian Economics 82
Keynes and the Theory of Employment 83
Keynes and Wages 86
Keynes and Fiscal Policy 94
Slichter and the Adjustment to Instability 100
Clark Appraises Fiscal Policy 102
Keynes and World War II 103
Hansen Accepts Keynes 105
Samuelson Synthesizes Keynes 107
Keynesian Economics and Collective Bargaining 109
Conclusion 111
References 116
4: Background of the Employment Act III: An Economic Bill of Rights 120
Roosevelt’s Second Bill of Rights 122
Roosevelt Accepts Keynes: The Nation’s Budget 130
The CIO Proposes a Guaranteed Wage 132
Keynesians Criticize the Guaranteed Annual Wage 135
Wallace Promises 60 Million Jobs 138
Conclusion 141
References 145
5: The Political Economy of the Employment Act of 1946 150
The Postwar Economy, 1945–1950 151
Truman Takes Over 152
The Legislation of the Employment Act 155
Truman’s First Economic Report 161
Hansen Criticizes the Economic Report 162
Truman’s Second Economic Report 163
The First JEC Report 165
Truman Promises a Fair Deal 166
Truman’s Subsequent Economic Reports 167
JEC Reports by Democrats 169
The New Republic Comments on the Economic Reports 169
The Union Response to the Economic Reports 171
Congress Raises the Minimum Wage 171
Truman, the Employment Act and Economic Justice 175
Conclusion 177
References 180
6: Kennedy’s New Frontier: Tax Cuts and Wage Policy 184
The 1950s, Eisenhower and a Conservative Approach to Keynesian Economics 185
Hansen Looks Backward and Forward 190
Kennedy and Economics 192
Kennedy’s First Economic Report 195
Kennedy’s Second Economic Report: The Case for Tax Cuts 201
Hansen Supports the Tax Cuts 207
Progressive Responses to Kennedy’s Economic Policies 209
Conclusion 213
References 217
7: The Age of Keynes in the Great Society 223
The Economy in the 1960s 224
The Tax Cuts 226
The Great Society 230
Signs of Inflation 233
A Tax Surcharge 236
The Hybrid System of Redistributive Economics 243
Economists, Keynesians and the Great Society 246
Unions and the Great Society 248
Conclusion 252
References 256
8: The Decline and Revival of a Living Wage 260
The Economy of the 1970s 263
The Decline of Unions 266
Social Insurance Stays Firm, For Now 274
The Minimum Wage Falls 277
The Decline of Keynesian Economics 279
Economists Return to the Living Wage 282
The Revival of a Living Wage Movement 284
Conclusion 289
References 293
Index 298