·
Discuss
Braverman’s Labor and Monopoly Capital and David Gordon’s Fat and
Mean.
·
Mechanization
and Deskilling (labor becomes servant of machinery and old craft skills are lost
– i.e., pushing buttons, pulling levers, dialing cadcam settings)
·
Satisfying
consumers’ and workers’ needs are not the objective, profits are the
objective.
a.
Produce
unsafe automobiles
b.
Use less
and less labor
c.
Shift
plants overseas
·
Real
wages were lower for non-supervisory workers in 1999 than in 1971.
·
High wage
manufacturing jobs replaced by low-wage service sector jobs.
·
Gordon
argues that U.S. corporations have taken the stick approach – increasing
supervisory personnel to monitor workers.
“…the only way to keep employees working hard under antagonistic,
alienating conditions is to hire an army of supervisors to watch them…”
·
Germany
and Japan use the carrot approach: job security, wage incentives, strong unions,
role in decision making.
Sackrey (Ch. 7, 157-175) U.S Monopoly Capitalism: An Irrational System?
Ø
Baran and Sweezy’s book Monopoly Capital discuss
the rise of large-scale business by the end of World War II.
Q: What are
some of the benefits of this phenomenon?
Q: What are
some of the problems resulting from this trend?
Ø
Benefits
1.
economies of scale (productivity increases)
2.
resource conservation with lower costs per unit
3.
customers get lower prices
4.
research & development easier to fund w/greater profits
5.
more reliable product and service
Ø
Problems
1.
productivity increases cost jobs
2.
larger firms, fewer firms à
cost barriers to entry of competitors
3.
dominant brand name of large firms à
brand loyalty barrier
4.
large firms w/influence on government à
lobby for import protection
5.
price leadership schemes à
eliminate price competition
Ø
Some changes in era of Monopoly Capital & Post Great
Depression
1.
Rise of welfare state & labor protection measures to counter big
capital
2.
Government has acted to protect business profits (e.g., P. O’Neil and
the Aluminum lobby)
Baran & Sweezy
[government] “is the executive committee of the bourgeoisie”
Ø
Other B & S Concerns
1. motivation to lower costs is to increase profits à
profits rise over time
(example: Microsoft has passed some reduced costs to lower prices, but
bulk of cost reduction has been enjoying 90 percent profit margin.
2.Buyouts
and mergers (see table 1, p. 165) à
no anti-trust enforcement
3.
Big firms buyout innovators and use patents to prevent innovation
4.
larger surplus has produced instability (inability to realize profits)
5.
In turn, this has led to increasing expenditures on advertising.