New ep is up! An interview with Samuel Evan Milner, economic historian and author of Robbing Peter to Pay Pau: Power, Profits, and Productivity in Modern American. Mr. Milner has a degree in history from Harvard, master’s degrees in history and philosophy from Yale, a PhD in history from Yale, and more recently, a J.D. from University of Chicago Law School.
Think about how much inflation generally and wage inflation specifically are in the news today. Overlay 900 lb corporate gorillas, and you understand the relevance of this story from the last century to today’s environment. From the back jacket: “Concentrated market power and the weakened sway of corporate stakeholders over management have emerged as leading concerns of American political economy. Samuel Milner provides a historical context for contemporary efforts to resolve these anxieties by examining the contest to control the distribution of corporate income during the mid-twentieth century. During this “Golden Age of American Capitalism,” apprehension about the debilitating consequences of industrial concentration fueled efforts to ensure that management would share the fruits of progress with workers, consumers, and society as a whole. Focusing particularly on wage and price determination in steel, automobiles, and electrical equipment, Milner reveals how the management of concentrated industries actually understood its ability to distribute income to its stakeholders as well as why economists, courts, and public policymakers all struggled to curtail the exercise of that market power at its source.”
Buy the book here, and follow Samuel on Linkedin here. Full New Books Network interview here.