HTY 104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Andrew Mellon, Wage Labour
Document Summary
Ford controlled over 50% of the car market by the 20"s. Kept costs and prices of the model t"s low, but volume and wages high. Fordism: highly automated production of complex consumer goods on a vast scale. Created different kinds of cars at different prices to reach success. Convinced people that they needed a new car every year to create demand (advertising). Andrew mellon, secretary of treasury for all three administrations. Was a banker and heavily into big business. Encouraged the creation and expansion of national trade associations. Rags to riches background, was a millionaire by 40. Believed in rugged individualism: too much gov"t control is un-american. Associative state: gov"t would encourage voluntary cooperation among corporations, consumers, workers, farmers, and small business community (partnerships). In 1929, 2/3 of the population was living at or below the minimum comfort level. 90% of blacks lived at or below comfort. High wage labor is replaced with semi-skilled labor.