In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

CHAPTER 7 Jobs, Wages, and Trade in the New World Order It has been more than two decades since Chase Manhattan Bank security guards traveled from New York to Chicago in the dead of night and locked the gates at Wisconsin Steel, ushering in a decade of plant closings. During the 1990S, the United States began one of the longest periods of sustained economic growth in its history. By the end of that decade, official unemployment stood at just a little over 4 percent-the lowest rate since the early 1970s. But the reports of a hot economy throughout the 1990S masked an important reality of American life generally as well as life specifically in Chicago. Many of the former Wisconsin Steel workers and laid-off manufacturing workers generally never worked again. And most of those who did get work were unable to find jobs with comparable wages and benefits. Moreover, the next generation of workers was unable to match the living standards of their parents. The reason that both record economic and employment growth could accompany a loss of living standards for many is that the benefits of the new world order were shared very unevenly. The 1990S continued a trend that began in the 1980s. The income of both low- and middle-income families stagnated and left them worse off than they had been in the 1970s.1 Meanwhile, those in the top income brackets enjoyed a very high rate of income growth and were also able to accumulate assets that brought in even more income.2 But many working families failed to make wages that allowed them to escape critical hardships that involved missing meals, being evicted from their homes, disconnected utilities, and access to needed medical care.3 Polarization of income and wealth is in itself certainly nothing new. But the polarization that has been a hallmark of the new world order throughout the world has a different character than previously. In the case of the United States, the growing income generated by the economic growth that followed World War II was shared among income groups. The rich got richer, but so Copyrighted Material JOBS, WAGES, AND TRADE IN THE NEW WORLD ORDER r65 did the middle-income and even the lowest-income families. That was part of the postwar deal that characterized the Fordist period. But as we have seen in previous chapters, even the largess of the postwar boom often left out people of color and women. Polarization during that period was largely based on race and gender. Today there is still polarization based on race and gender, but the growth of polarization has become much more generalized. Over the past two decades, the rich have gotten richer and the poor, poorer. There are three things that are different about today's more generalized polarization . First, the high incomes are fueled by a system of credit and speculation and highly mobile capital, which is a key feature of the new world order. That has been a theme developed in previous chapters. A second distinctive characteristic of today's economic polarization involves the political discourse and resulting public policies concerning employment. Because of the political power of the financiers who fuel the new world order and of the mobile corporations who benefit from that fuel, there has been a distinct political shift in the ideology of employment and the social priority given to jobs and income. Third, with highly mobile capital, many of the new jobs created around the world do not offer enough wages and benefits to allow workers to live a decent life. In the United States, many of today's jobs-both new and old-do not pay living wages or offer adequate benefits. And a growing number of jobs are part-time or temporary. This chapter develops these last two points, tracing and critiquing the shift in the ideology, theory, and politics of employment and the employment ramifications of "free trade." I then show how this shift has affected working people nationally and in the Chicago area. The Evolution of the Ideology, Theory, and Politics of Employment in the United States In the late 1920S, the world economy collapsed. Unemployment reached catastrophic levels. Capitalism itself was threatened. To those attempting to end the Great Depression and save capitalism, unemployment was considered to be the greatest evil. In the United States, public policies based on this premise followed. President Roosevelt put people to work building roads, bridges, and parks. People were paid...

Share