Robbing Peter to Pay Paul: Power, Profits, and Productivity in Modern America

Concerns about concentrated market power and the diminished influence of corporate stakeholders over management have risen to the forefront of American political economy. Samuel Milner's historical analysis of the mid-twentieth century contest to control corporate income distribution sheds light on contemporary efforts to address these anxieties and highlights the challenges faced by economists, courts, and public policymakers in curtailing the exercise of market power.

Format: Hardback
Length: 344 pages
Publication date: 01 February 2022
Publisher: Yale University Press

The concentration of market power and the diminished influence of corporate stakeholders on management have become prominent concerns in the American political economy. Samuel Milner offers a historical backdrop to contemporary endeavors to address these apprehensions by examining the struggle to regulate the distribution of corporate income in the mid-twentieth century. During this "Golden Age of American Capitalism," concerns about the debilitating effects of industrial concentration drove efforts to ensure that management would distribute the benefits of progress to workers, consumers, and society as a whole. Milner's analysis centers on wage and price determination in steel, automobiles, and electrical equipment, shedding light on how management in concentrated industries perceived their ability to distribute income to stakeholders and the challenges faced by economists, courts, and public policymakers in curtailing the exercise of that market power at its root.

The concentration of market power and the diminished influence of corporate stakeholders on management have become prominent concerns in the American political economy. Samuel Milner offers a historical backdrop to contemporary endeavors to address these apprehensions by examining the struggle to regulate the distribution of corporate income in the mid-twentieth century. During this "Golden Age of American Capitalism," concerns about the debilitating effects of industrial concentration drove efforts to ensure that management would distribute the benefits of progress to workers, consumers, and society as a whole. Milner's analysis centers on wage and price determination in steel, automobiles, and electrical equipment, shedding light on how management in concentrated industries perceived their ability to distribute income to stakeholders and the challenges faced by economists, courts, and public policymakers in curtailing the exercise of that market power at its root.

The concentration of market power and the diminished influence of corporate stakeholders on management have become prominent concerns in the American political economy. Samuel Milner offers a historical backdrop to contemporary endeavors to address these apprehensions by examining the struggle to regulate the distribution of corporate income in the mid-twentieth century. During this "Golden Age of American Capitalism," concerns about the debilitating effects of industrial concentration drove efforts to ensure that management would distribute the benefits of progress to workers, consumers, and society as a whole. Milner's analysis centers on wage and price determination in steel, automobiles, and electrical equipment, shedding light on how management in concentrated industries perceived their ability to distribute income to stakeholders and the challenges faced by economists, courts, and public policymakers in curtailing the exercise of that market power at its root.

Weight: 632g
Dimension: 164 x 243 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780300257342