The new industrial revolution and wages

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 1804651486

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-193069

Document type:: Monograph

Author:: Lauck, William Jett http://d-nb.info/gnd/173237126

Title:: The new industrial revolution and wages

Place of publication:: New York

Publisher:: Funk & Wagnalls

Year of publication:: 1929

Scope:: ix, 308 S.; graph. Darst.

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

Usage license:: Get license information via the feedback formular.

Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter IX. Increased consumption and prospertity accepted as an outgrowth of lower costs and higher wages

Collection:: Economics Books

LOWER COSTS AND HIGHER WAGES 203 as cheaply as he can. The higher he gets in earning power above the line of mere existence, the more he can afford to put into purchases returning a fair margin of profit to the seller. In other words, the employer who keeps wages low hurts his own industry and all others. . . . In view of these facts it seems to me rather futile to be talking of overproduction in the United States. It seems also that we are only going half way when employers devote all ‘heir attention to the problems of reducing costs, as a means of increasing distribution. If an equal amount of brains and energy were assigned to the task of bringing up the wage levels in certain industries where they are now below the sav- Ing line, I believe those lines of industry now having the most trouble would be hard put to it to supply the demand; instead of proposing, in effect, that we abandon or destroy shoe and textile factories, their problem would be to meet the demand with existing equipment. . . . In my view, what we call the problem of overproduction is no such “problem” at all. What appears to be the economic problem of overproduction is really the psychological prob- lem of underconsumption, which is far less to be feared. In the long run, I believe, consumption will always catch up with production. And our demands only increase as the standards of living rise. We have more prosperity here than any other country secause our people need and demand more. But millions of them have yet to get beyond the existence line, and when we get them beyond that stage we shall not have to worry for the present over the problem of overproduction. Eventually that may be a grave problem, but it is not yet. When that time comes I expect to see employers within an industry banded together to maintain wages as the first step toward the insur- ance of continued prosperity, provided always that as we de- velop and improve this home market, we also protect it and keep it to ourselves with wise and proper tariff laws.

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