RT Article
T1 Economic Inequality and the New School of American Economics
JF Religions
VO 8
IS 6
SP 1
OP 11
A1 Leccese, Stephen
LA English
PB MDPI
YR 2017
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1586228544
AB This essay analyzes economic inequality in the Gilded Age, roughly from 1865 to 1900. It focuses specifically on a group of economists who identified working-class consumption as an economic stimulus, and accordingly advocated an increase in wages to bring this about. It is structured in three sections: first, it demonstrates how industrialization in the late-nineteenth century sparked social tensions, convincing observers that there was a crisis of inequality; second, it explains how these tensions produced a “New School” of economics who sought to alleviate these issues by changing economic doctrine; it concludes by noting how this New School exerted an influence on public policy in the Progressive Era. In their conception, economics should be redesigned to promote a more equal distribution of wealth. Therefore, higher wages would stimulate working-class consumption, which would stabilize the economy and overall alleviate class conflict. This story offers a unique way to view the development of consumerism and social reform in American history.
K1 Gilded Age
K1 Consumption
K1 economic reform
K1 Economics
K1 Industrialization
K1 Intellectual History
K1 Minimum Wage
DO 10.3390/rel8060099