Real wages in Japan have been declining thanks to decades of expansionary monetary and fiscal policies. Now "Japanization" increasingly looks like a fate that awaits Europe.
Ludwig von Mises discusses inflation, labor unions, and issues of the adoption of improper terminology and widespread public misinformation at the Mont Pèlerin Society meeting at Princeton, New Jersey, on September 11, 1958.
After very quickly becoming an advanced economy, South Korea is experiencing declining growth and labor productivity. The culprit, as usual, is government intervention in the market to favor certain interests.
State lawmakers possess an infinite source of good intentions. Wielding the power of this limitless benevolence and munificence, politicians are regulating the lives of citizens while eviscerating their existence in the process.
The conservative case against market freedom is based on the belief that if change disrupts the status quo in any way, or if companies impose cost reductions that result in a shifting of employment — or even some layoffs — then government should step in and take control.
Henry Ford's factories had a hard time keeping workers because the work was monotonous. So Ford helped keep workers around through reduced hours, vacation time, and other benefits that are now considered typical.
Many hourly employees in every state are paid higher than they are legally required to be, not because employers are generous, but because of worker productivity and competition over scarce labor.
As dismissive as many of us would like to be toward Marx’s thoroughly debunked labor theory of value, it still holds currency among today’s budding socialists.
