10. Leisure and the Better Life
In the previous chapter two types of so-called fringe benefits were discussed — taking some of one’s pay to buy things he may not want, and paying him when he does not work.
11. Pricing an Hour of Work
The general level of real wages is determined by what is produced. Inflating pay beyond this point raises prices but does not raise the worth of the wage in buying power. Unions, with all their political and other power, cannot veto the iron ceiling that production sets over real wages.
12. Riding the Waves of Business
In pricing one’s work, wages are subject to all the influences and characteristics that affect any other price.
Price has an important function to perform. It equates the wanting of things with the supplying of things. The two are in balance only at the free market price. Any other price, either higher or lower, causes a surplus or a shortage; it reduces trade; it penalizes economic welfare. And in like manner, if the price of work is too high, it causes a surplus of labor — “unemployment.”
Index
A
Abilities, exchange of, 35-42
Animals, tools of mankind, 28
B
Bargaining, wage, 100
Benefits
fringe, 72-83
vacation, 91
Bonds, government, 22
Business cycles (and charts), 107-119
Buying power
loss of, 65
production and, 53
selling and, 95
theory, 112
C
Liberty
Title Page
A PATH TO ITS RECOVERY
BY F. A. HARPER
THE FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION
IRVINGTON-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK · 1949
The Ludwig von Mises Institute
Auburn, Alabama
2007
Copyright Page
COPYRIGHT, 1949, BY F. A. HARPER
Permission to reproduce from this book, without special request, is hereby granted by both the author and publisher. Information about uses will be appreciated.
PRINTED IN U.S.A.
Editor’s Note
EDITOR’S NOTE
Dr. Floyd A. Harper has been a member of the staff of The Foundation for Economic Education since 1946. He came to The Foundation from Cornell University, where he had served as Professor of Marketing for over a decade.
His writings, which are characterized by down-to-earth practicality, include numerous articles and booklets, and the notable books The World’s Hunger (with F. A. Pearson) and The Crisis of the Free Market.
About this Exploration
ABOUT THIS EXPLORATION
MINDFUL OF THE SCOPE and complexity of the problem of liberty, these exploratory remarks on the subject are offered with humility as a progress report. It is hoped that they may stimulate further thought and study of this most important problem, among those who will disagree as well as among those who will agree.
Part One: The Design of Liberty
PART 1
THE DESIGN OF LIBERTY
The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one. We all declare for liberty, but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men’s labor.
