Comments on Mutualist Blog: Free Market Anti-Capitalism: Vulgar Liberalism: Big Business and Its Useful Id...

Laurent and Vincent,Thanks for the historical info...

2006-10-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

Laurent and Vincent,

Thanks for the historical information. It's good to get some background on the role of corporate power in creating the European mixed economy.

Eric,

Kolko would open some eyes, all right, but that's why it probably wouldn't be assigned. The beneficent role of the American state as "all of us working together" is pretty close to the center of the official ideology taught in publik skools.

Sergio,

I called it "liberalism" because I make a distinction between American managerialist liberalism of the Hillary variety and genuine leftism.

SRS,

You're right. That's another benefit of cartels: not only does it distribute costs and risks within an industry, but it imposes some of its costs on those outside the industry.

it was exactly the same kind of cartel an industry...

2006-10-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

it was exactly the same kind of cartel an industry would have created for itself privately by establishing a code of "voluntary standards," except that the inability to defect removed the prisoner's dilemma problem of individual firms undercutting the long-term interests of the cartel for short-term advantage.

And, all taxpayers had to pay for it, including vegetarians and those who produced their own food.

yes, nominal wages increased, but what about real ...

2006-10-16T05:20:00.000-07:00

yes, nominal wages increased, but what about real wages (ie purchasing power of the wage) ?

http://www.nber.org/databases/macrohistory/rectdata/04/m04057.dat
(whole sales price index)
http://www.nber.org/databases/macrohistory/contents/fr.html

according to nber data, from 04/1936 to 04/1937, wholesale price index rose by 40%, so much more than what was "gained" by the workers. They got about an iverall of 10% wage increase (depends on industry sector), 2 vacation weeks (so 2/52 = 4%) and 40 hours per week instead of 48 (so 8/48 = 16%). So, their working hour rose by 30% thanks to the Front populaire, but in less than one year, price rose by 40%, so if their nominal wage was stable, in real, they losed 10% of purchasing power.

I need to find wage index to be able to take this point. On nber website, we can find daily wage of coal miner, but these kind of workers always had been unionized and this industry was connected to government, so it isn't a good index of overall wage index. FYI, their nominal wages increased by 55% from 1935 to 1937, so these workers gained about 20+55-40 = 35% in real wages (ie purchasing power). I think that heavy unionized worker working in industry connected to governement obtained heavy nominal wage increase, but the overall population gained only a little nominal wage increase, so non-unionized workers loosed in real wage and unionized workers gained in real wage.

If you have nominal wage index of these period or better real wage index (ie purchasing power), I'll take it.

Thanks.
Vincent.

Vincent, there was a major social conflict before ...

2006-10-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

Vincent, there was a major social conflict before and during Front Populaire, and wage nominal increases were more than 40% per year, so 2 weeks vacation over 52-weeks year is irrelevant here as a source of inflation.

So of course, with WWII two years later, working class gained nothing...

Laurent,I don't know if French Front Populaire ref...

2006-10-13T03:51:00.000-07:00

Laurent,

I don't know if French Front Populaire reforms was defined by big business. But it's clear that working class in real term gained nothing.

The lowering of productivity of working hours and paid vacation was obtained by the government from business in exchange of a loose monetary policy. In fact, during this period, the " social gain" was negated by monetary price inflation. Three months after the enactment of theses labour laws, the government devaluated the Franc.
http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/~os0tmc/fre320/front.htm

A french libertarian politician said something like "fiat rights were paid by fiat money"

Good to see french people; here. ;-)

Yes, of course, that's what my public school taugh...

2006-10-12T22:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, of course, that's what my public school taught as well (and excessive quantities of Steinbeck and Arthur Miller).

Kevin:Good post, but wouldnt it be a good idea to ...

2006-10-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

Kevin:

Good post, but wouldnt it be a good idea to create a section in the blog called "vulgar leftism"?

Is the "useful idiots" remark to be taken as a cla...

2006-10-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

Is the "useful idiots" remark to be taken as a claim that Stalinism was actually a form of capitalism? That makes perfect sense.... communism and capitalism are the same thing!

Moulitsas' argument is almost a parody of itself. ...

2006-10-12T19:20:00.000-07:00

Moulitsas' argument is almost a parody of itself. The man obviously knows nothing about libertarians, history, economics, or government. That it draws equally vapid defenses only serves to remind me how bored I am with politics and anyone who would rather listen to politicians than read a perfectly good book. Or even a particularly bad one.

Reading Kolko was spine tingling;- "Oh, shit, is that how it works?" I think Triumph of Conservatism ought to be taught in place of or at least in conjunction with The Jungle, which I had to read 2 times in high school (only topped by having to read All Quiet on the Western Front 3 times). Jesus, message received already; no wonder I stopped reading for pleasure for almost 15 years. That proselytic fiction would be far more interesting when juxtaposed with Kolko's non-fictional account. "Here's the Baptist, here's the bootlegger, here's how they work together. Now, looking around you in contemporary society, can you spot any Baptists in the service of bootleggers?"

However, as a railfan, I preferred Railroads and Regulation. And, if nothing else, I picked up that word "juxtaposition" from those same high school English classes.

When the Popular Front in France in 1936 mandated ...

2006-10-12T15:41:00.000-07:00

When the Popular Front in France in 1936 mandated two weeks paid vacation for workers, was it a big business sponsored law?