tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post5298863251702517508..comments2024-03-06T06:34:42.881-05:00Comments on EconoSpeak: The Narcissism of NSC-68Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-80621353492039285332009-11-12T23:57:56.761-05:002009-11-12T23:57:56.761-05:00Was Keyserling responsible for changing labor lead...Was Keyserling responsible for changing labor leaders' minds and policies? <br /><br />In a word, yes. See my next post. As for "the views of the economics profession," one has to start from the recognition that conservative economists were largely hostile to shorter hours from the get go. So it's a question of tipping the scales. In the specific case of Clyde Dankert, who edited an anthology on the topic, <i>Hours of Work</i> in 1965, Dankert's Cold War rhetoric echoes Keyserlings (and the 12 other contributors to the volume march in lockstep to Dankert's drum). <br /><br />In a 1962 article, "Shorter Hours -- In Theory and Practice" Dankert concludes with the admonition, "and in view of the current cold war situation the present writer would not recommend any sizable reduction in them [hours] just now..." The idea being (as stated earlier in the article) that in time of war the priority has to go to maximizing productive output. So yes, I think Keyserling was influential in forging a consensus in the profession that was based not on economic analysis but on political conformism. And I might add, <i>abject</i> conformism.<br /><br />Trust me, I certainly have no desire to "tie the issue to everything under the sun" and in fact at first resisted promptings to go there (NSC-68) even though I was already quite familiar with Dankert's Cold War justification for resisting hours reductions. The problem is that when I finally consented to take a closer look at the evidence, the case became too strong to overlook.<br /><br />I have to confess to finding Keyserling a rather compelling figure -- in a picaresque sort of way. Reading his rants against the New Economics of the Kennedy admin and his National Archives Oral History interviews, one can't help but get the impression of a sort of policy intellectual carnival barker. His analysis is astonishingly, shockingly shallow and presumptuous but loaded with polemic and clever rhetorical ploys. It's hard to make out for sure who he thought were the bigger rubes -- the "big boys" who were the gatekeepers of what was possible and/or expedient or the hard pressed "little people" who his full-employment strategies were supposed to help.Sandwichmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11159060882083015637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-56554361448521774122009-11-12T23:17:34.052-05:002009-11-12T23:17:34.052-05:00Look, I am open to the idea that reduced working h...Look, I am open to the idea that reduced working hours may help reduce unemployment. But this effort to tie the issue to everything else under the sun, from global warming to the Cold War and the military-industrial complex, strikes me as a stretch too far.<br /><br />BTW, Anonymous: Can you at least adopt a consistent moniker, if you are going to hand out this sort of assinine dreck here, please?Barkley Rosserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13114257724762074636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-17632690035784547082009-11-12T18:12:46.776-05:002009-11-12T18:12:46.776-05:00"I see zero connection between a less-than fu..."I see zero connection between a less-than fully employed economy and resistance to reduced working hours."<br /><br />Yes, I agree: you don't see the connection.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-7505323782382833462009-11-12T17:28:46.564-05:002009-11-12T17:28:46.564-05:00I see zero connection between a less-than fully em...I see zero connection between a less-than fully employed economy and resistance to reduced working hours. I see little evidence regarding Keyserling's role regarding the views of "the economics profession" and this, although he may have played a role in influencing the labor movement at some point. Was he responsible for changing their minds and policies (that would at least amount to something)? Otherwise, this entire case is way overblown.rosserjb@jmu.eduhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09300046915843554101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-25624298888663075872009-11-12T16:34:07.687-05:002009-11-12T16:34:07.687-05:00What, specifically, is way over done in my comment...What, specifically, is way over done in my comment, Rosser? <br />I do not disagree with you that Keyserling was always a very outspoken proponent of full employment. It is the "one means or another" part I have a problem with.<br /><br />I also do not disagree with you that the Korean conflict played a role in setting post-war foreign policy. But I would point out that Keyserling and Nitze had already put together NSC-68 well before that conflict.<br /><br />I would also point out that the Korean conflict had already ended when Keyserling began trying to convince the labor movement to drop its demand for work time reduction in favor of "full employment."<br /><br />Lastly, Rosser, I would point out that the Soviet Union and the communist bloc disintegrated 20 years ago, yet we still seem to be pursuing a military expansion which cannot be justified by any external threat.<br /><br />So what now is the excuse to maintain a too long work week? To swear off any approach to unemployment which is not predicated on "economic growth?"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-72736553685824226942009-11-12T15:06:34.891-05:002009-11-12T15:06:34.891-05:00This and the comment by "Anonymous" are ...This and the comment by "Anonymous" are simply way overdone. Even if Keyserling had said "we should move to work sharing and a reduction of work hours!!!" in 1949, all that would have been thrown out the window a year later when North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950. Get real, guys.<br /><br />And, for what it is worth, of all the CEA chairs ever, Keyserling was probably more focused on achieving full employment by one means or another than any other.rosserjb@jmu.eduhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09300046915843554101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-59618471394131877922009-11-12T13:02:38.046-05:002009-11-12T13:02:38.046-05:00Keyserling is the connection between the policy of...Keyserling is the connection between the policy of "full employment" - also known as the policy of economic growth - and the resistance of the economics profession to any discussion of work time reduction.<br /><br />He is the connection to understanding why the labor movement dropped work time reduction as its most powerful demand.<br /><br />Work time reduction became a forbidden topic beginning with NSC-68 because a longer than necessary individual work week and an ever expanding social work day (labor force times individual hours) made possible the resources necessary to consolidate control over Europe and contain the Soviet Union after World War II.<br /><br />Today, it is the basis for realizing the Bush-Obama policy of "Full Spectrum Dominance," which, in the words of Defense Secretary Gates, will allow the US to "hedge" and "shape" the forces which pose a long term threat to continued US global dominance.<br /><br />Work time reduction, therefore, is not only an important goal to give people control over their free time, it is absolutely necessary to bringing the period of international conflict to a permanent close.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com