ECON 155 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Democratic Congress, Aggregate Demand, Impermanence
Shift fro Fordis to Flexile Auulatio April 5, 8
• Deegulatio does’t ea o egulatio, it eas a diffeet set of egulatios ie: fedeal to state leel
o In order for a community to function adequately, it must be self-regulating (ie: there should be some trust
that each individual will be able to take care of themselves)
o Self-regulation is a cultural form in order to obey these spoken regulations
• David Harvey: believes that price fixing and labor supply are 2 difficulties that must be solved in any regulatory
regime
o The market plays a secondary role – transportation, infrastructure, and education are not governed by the
market
o Investors depend on labor to make the right choices to recapture their returns. These choices include: work
ethic, company loyalty, local pride, etc.
• Fordism
o Communists believed that the Fordist mode of production was separable from the capitalist social form (this
was a mistake)
o Lenin wanted the productivity and growth Ford created, but work had to be coerced in other ways because
of the absent of value
o Fordism swept through the US in a more self-regulating way because of the incentives they thought were
valuable; people wanted to work harder
o Created an industry to generate a desire to consume (different than what we thought before, was to
conserve)
o Labor made significant gains from 1938. The challenge was to constrain the demands of labor sufficiently to
transfer efficiencies to investors
o Taft-Hartley Act: won huge short-term returns for capital; put downward pressures on wages and hence
production
▪ May have contributed to sluggish growth at the end of the 1950s
• Post-Fordism
o Geay’s ad Japa’s slups ee less seee tha the U“’s eause they had ette taspotatio
systes that did’t euie oil ad they had ette health ae systes
o Democratic Congress resisted: universal, single payer health care, high speed and light rail, and free higher
education
▪ Believed that it was an assault of automobile workers and unionized workers (teachers)
o Devaluation had a negative effect on the value of the dollar. US products became unbelievably cheap on the
global markets
o “tiky ages: ages do’t hage iediately eause thee is a lag
o The 1990s was the decade of privatization – flexible, lean, efficient
o Puli spaes: they ae ot eally puli ie: oadays ae sposoed y hoee
o There is a dramatic decline in union membership who once were the cornerstone of high wages, effective
consumer demand, and economic growth
▪ It is ot piate apital ot uios, hose feedo of assoiatio is poteted ude Citizes
United
o Flexible accumulation: description of the freedom capital now enjoys to occupy and dominate formerly
public space
▪ Lough’s itepetatio: These outoes aose fo the suspesio of aket foes i 13 that
gave rise to high wages for workers. Capital and labor were happy with the money infused.
o Post-Fordism celebrates: flexibility, power, hybridity, nimble, impermanence. Altogether, they reference the
flexibility and dynamism of the new social form (post-Fordism)
o Lough: argues that capitalism and communism fits under the standard model. Can show that post-Fordism
delivers efficiencies back up the income hierarchy but can also show how it depresses aggregate demand
o The power of the public has been effectively eliminated; shifts to the concerned about efficiency, rather
than the public good. The public is gone and that might not be a good thing
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Shift fro(cid:373) fordis(cid:373) to flexi(cid:271)le a(cid:272)(cid:272)u(cid:373)ulatio(cid:374) april 5, (cid:1006)(cid:1004)(cid:1005)8: de(cid:396)egulatio(cid:374) does(cid:374)"t (cid:373)ea(cid:374) (cid:374)o (cid:396)egulatio(cid:374), it (cid:373)ea(cid:374)s a diffe(cid:396)e(cid:374)t set of (cid:396)egulatio(cid:374)s (cid:894)ie: fede(cid:396)al to state le(cid:448)el(cid:895) Investors depend on labor to make the right choices to recapture their returns. It is (cid:374)ot p(cid:396)i(cid:448)ate (cid:272)apital (cid:894)(cid:374)ot u(cid:374)io(cid:374)s(cid:895), (cid:449)hose (cid:862)f(cid:396)eedo(cid:373) of asso(cid:272)iatio(cid:374)(cid:863) is p(cid:396)ote(cid:272)ted u(cid:374)de(cid:396) citize(cid:374)s. United: flexible accumulation: description of the freedom capital now enjoys to occupy and dominate formerly public space. Lough"s i(cid:374)te(cid:396)p(cid:396)etatio(cid:374): these out(cid:272)o(cid:373)es a(cid:396)ose f(cid:396)o(cid:373) the suspe(cid:374)sio(cid:374) of (cid:373)a(cid:396)ket fo(cid:396)(cid:272)es i(cid:374) 1(cid:1013)3(cid:1012) that gave rise to high wages for workers. Capital and labor were happy with the money infused: post-fordism celebrates: flexibility, power, hybridity, nimble, impermanence. Altogether, they reference the flexibility and dynamism of the new social form (post-fordism: lough: argues that capitalism and communism fits under the standard model.
