Iron law of wages
The Iron Law of Wages was an Industrial Revolution law of economics that asserted that wages can never rise above the minimum level that will enable the laborer to survive. Inspired by the French Ideologue period, the alleged law was popularized by the German socialist Ferdinand Lassalle around 1813. According to Lassalle, wages cannot fall below subsistence level because without subsistence laborers will be unable to work for long.
However, competition between laborers for employment will drive wages down to this minimal level.
Amid this period of history, wages for both manufacturing laborers and agricultural workers were in large part close to subsistence level.
What drives laborers to subsistance levels is an abundance of labor resources - too many workers. The Iron Law of Wages is acheived by flooding a labor market with resources. Consequently union busting practices are executed with impunity. Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the struggle for labor has been to reverse the Iron Law of Wages.
The Iron Law of Wages is what's driving the compulsion for a guest worker program, not compasion for the laborers.
The Iron Law of Wages was an Industrial Revolution law of economics that asserted that wages can never rise above the minimum level that will enable the laborer to survive. Inspired by the French Ideologue period, the alleged law was popularized by the German socialist Ferdinand Lassalle around 1813. According to Lassalle, wages cannot fall below subsistence level because without subsistence laborers will be unable to work for long.
However, competition between laborers for employment will drive wages down to this minimal level.
Amid this period of history, wages for both manufacturing laborers and agricultural workers were in large part close to subsistence level.
What drives laborers to subsistance levels is an abundance of labor resources - too many workers. The Iron Law of Wages is acheived by flooding a labor market with resources. Consequently union busting practices are executed with impunity. Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the struggle for labor has been to reverse the Iron Law of Wages.
The Iron Law of Wages is what's driving the compulsion for a guest worker program, not compasion for the laborers.
posted by Van at 4:27 AM
5 Comments:
Interesting picture. Before there were child labor laws passed (1935 I think) kids like this had to work to help support their families.
I guess that this is what the business leaders wanted.
Is this what we want today?
Good point Van. Bush's push for a guest worker program is a bow to all his corporate supporters. The more labor in the market the lower the price and the higher the profits.
Everyone needs to keep this in the front of their minds when considering the challenges of border security and illegal immigrants.
I am not for returning to pre-child labor laws, let me make that clear. But in reality was it better to have the children work to help the family, or the way the same kids are now attached to Playstation and the TV?
I understand there was abuse, I do not condone that. But just because something looks so bad in the past doesn't mean what we do with kids (and in general) today is right.
MD- you may have missed the point. The point is that worker saturation will bring our middle-class to subsistance levels.
Too many workers = too little pay.
But yes, kids are becoming lazy. I started working at 14 and haven't stoped since.
I didn't miss the point Van, I avoided it. lol My mind only goes so far with economics so I'd rather not make too much of a fool of myself.
I was just responding to anon's comment.
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