The living wage
Subtitle: lessons from the history of economic thought
By: Donald R. Stabile.
Publisher: Edward Elgar; Edward Elgar Publishing
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Cheltenham, UK
Language: eng
Number of pages: 176
ISBN-13: 9781848441972
Subjects: Minimum wage; Living wage movement; Economics -- History; Minimum wage -- United States; Living wage movement -- United States
Description: "The book reviews the history of economic ideas related to the idea of the living wage. It presents a debate between two ideologies, the moral economy and the market economy, as captured by the need to sustain the workforce, enhance its capability and avoid the externality effects of low wages. It is unique in that it applies these concepts exclusively to labor. The book also breaks new ground by presenting Adam Smith as a moral economist who anticipated many of the arguments set forth by modern day advocates of the living wage. It shows how successive economic thinkers added to Smith's arguments for a living (subsistence) wage or found fault with those arguments. Throughout the book Donald Stabile draws out the lessons that this history has for the modern living wage movement." "Economists interested in the history of economic thought and labor issues will find this book a compelling read, as will academics and community groups advocating a living wage."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : the living wage; title: Sustainability : subsistence, necessities, and unions; title: Capability : work and wages, virtue and skill; title: Externality, community and wages; title: Lessons from the history of economic thought.