Professors Vedder and Gallaway provide a comprehensive examination of unemployment in the last century of American economic history, using a persuasive mix of Austrian theory (on money and business cycle), empirical methods, and narrative history. They show that government can produce all the unemployment it desires by intervening in the ability of the market to adjust wage rates according to prevailing economic conditions.
Why is this important? Unemployment is used to justify ever bigger government programs—-from national industrial policies to high military expenditures to a return to New Deal-type "make work" projects. Increases in unemployment are a predictable source of public disgruntlement with economic affairs, and a precipitating trigger of ever more government involvement.
Amassing a huge amount of data, and examining the full range of existing literature and research, the authors target Keynesian fiscal demand-management and show that such policies as minimum wages, labor controls, unemployment compensation, and welfare have played significant roles in generating joblessness. They further show that the policies of both President Hoover and President Roosevelt prolonged and exacerbated unemployment during the Great Depression.
"Not only has the state aggravated the problem of unemployment for Americans, it has done so differentially. The biggest losers from state intervention have been the very people that advocates of activism have claimed need the most help, namely nonwhites, women, and unskilled and inexperienced youths. The strong, skilled, and comparatively affluent have managed to adjust to state intervention, although not without cost. The burden of the welfare state has fallen inordinately on those it was supposed to benefit the most."
This 400-page book is a seminal contribution to Austrian literature that didn't receive nearly enough attention when it was published in 1993--and deserves far more attention today, not only from Austrians and people intersted in free-market thought but from anyone who is prepared to completely rethink the subjects of unemployment and business cycles.
The quality and rigor of the research makes it suitable for graduate study or individual research. But it is also well written enough to make a great read for anyone interested in the relationship between economics and human well being.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: The Unemployment Century
Chapter 2: Unemployment in Theory
Chapter 3: The Neoclasssical/Austrian Approach
Chapter 4: The Gilded Age
Chapter 5: From New Era to New Deal
Chapter 6: The Banking Crisis and the Labor Market
Chapter 7: The New Deal
Chapter 8: The Impossible Dream Come True
Chapter 9: The Gentle Time
Chapter 10: The Camelot Years
Chapter 11: "Pride Goeth Before A Fall"
Chapter 12: The Winds of Change
Chapter 13: The Natural Rate of Employment
Chapter 14: Who Bears the Burden of Unemployment?
Chapter 15: Unemployment and the State
Chapter 16: Afterword
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这本书,坦白说,读起来像是一场穿越了无数个情绪迷宫的旅程。作者的笔触极其细腻,他似乎有一种魔力,能将那些最隐晦、最难以言喻的内心挣扎,用近乎残酷的真实感呈现在我们面前。我尤其欣赏他处理人物心理的深度,那种步步紧逼的压抑感,让人在阅读的过程中,不得不时常停下来,深吸一口气,消化那些文字带来的重量。故事情节的推进并非一帆风顺的线性发展,而是充满了回旋和反复,就像真实的人生一样,你以为走到了尽头,却发现只是又一个岔路口的开始。他对环境的描绘也绝不敷衍,那些细节——光线的角度、空气中的湿度、某个特定的气味——都像是精心布置的舞台道具,烘托出角色们所处的精神困境。读完后,我感觉自己像是经历了一场漫长的心灵手术,虽然过程痛苦,但留下的却是对人性更深一层的洞察。这种文学上的探索精神,是当下许多作品中稀缺的品质,它不迎合读者,而是挑战读者,要求你用全部的注意力去参与到这场文字构建的世界中去。
评分我必须承认,这本书的社会观察维度令我印象深刻,它绝非那种只关注个体情感的小家子气叙事。作者对宏大叙事背景的把握极为老练,他巧妙地将个体命运的细微波澜,放置在一个广阔的、时代性的背景之下进行审视。你可以从中清晰地看到某种社会肌理是如何影响、甚至重塑个体的选择与认知。那些关于体制、关于阶层流动、关于文化冲击的描写,都带着一种冰冷的、不带感情的批判力量,但这种批判并非空洞的口号,而是通过角色们真实的生活困境,一点一滴渗透出来的。举例来说,他对某个特定职业群体日常的刻画,那种专业术语和生活琐事的无缝衔接,显示出作者在田野调查上的功力,使得整个社会场景栩栩如生。阅读过程中,我不断地进行自我对照和反思,思考自己所处的环境与书中描绘的之间的微妙关联。这是一种非常具有现实主义穿透力的作品,它要求你不仅仅停留在故事本身,还要抬头看看窗外,去审视我们所身处的这个世界。
评分对于那些偏爱纯粹情节驱动故事的读者来说,这本书或许会带来一些挑战。它的魅力并不在于制造一连串令人瞠目结舌的戏剧性高潮,而在于对“过程”和“氛围”的极致渲染。作者似乎对高强度的动作场面不感兴趣,转而将笔墨集中在那些漫长、沉默的等待,以及角色内心微妙的权衡与挣扎上。节奏感极其缓慢,有时一章的内容可能只描述了一次煎熬的会议,或者一次漫长的夜间独白。然而,正是这种缓慢,赋予了文字以独特的质感。你可以感受到时间是如何在角色身上留下痕迹的,那种由内而外散发出的疲惫感和宿命感,几乎可以穿透纸面。我体会到了一种近乎冥想式的阅读体验,它迫使我放慢自己的思维速度,去品味那些被我们日常生活中忽略掉的、那些“无聊”时刻中蕴含的巨大信息量。这本书更像是一部关于“存在状态”的哲学论文,包裹在文学的外衣之下。
评分这本书的语言风格是如此独特,以至于我一度怀疑这是不是翻译作品,因为它有一种令人难以抗拒的异域美感。作者偏爱使用非常规的词汇搭配,以及那种略带古旧感的、形式感极强的句子结构,读起来有一种庄重而又略带疏离的仪式感。这种文风极大地提升了作品的格调,让原本可能只是普通事件的描述,都蒙上了一层史诗般的色彩。我特别欣赏作者在对话处理上的高明之处:角色之间的交流很少是直白的,充满了言外之意和半开玩笑的试探。你必须仔细解读每一个停顿,每一句未尽之语,才能真正把握他们关系的微妙走向。它不是那种一目了然的“大白话”小说,更像是为懂得欣赏精致工艺的读者准备的一件艺术品。每一次翻页,都像是在揭开一层层精美的丝绸,下面隐藏的或许不是爆炸性的秘密,而是更深层的、关于人类精神困境的永恒追问。它要求读者的词汇量和文化背景有所储备,但回报是极高的审美享受。
评分这本书的叙事结构简直是一场智力上的盛宴,或者说,是一次精密的解构。作者似乎刻意打乱了时间线,将过去、现在和一些近乎预感的未来片段交织在一起,使得整个文本具有一种非线性的张力。起初,这确实让人感到一丝迷惘,你需要不断地在脑海中重组碎片,才能拼凑出事件的完整脉络。但一旦你适应了这种节奏,就会发现这种处理方式的精妙之处——它完美地模拟了记忆的运作方式,那些重要的转折点往往不是按顺序发生的,而是突然以某种强烈的冲击力闯入你的意识。语言风格方面,它呈现出一种近乎诗意的疏离感,句子结构复杂多变,时而长篇大论,时而戛然而止,充满了留白,迫使读者必须主动填补那些未言明的空白。这种需要高度参与感的阅读体验,让这本书远远超出了“消遣”的范畴,更像是一次需要全神贯注的智力对话。我花了比预期更多的时间去阅读,不是因为内容晦涩,而是因为我渴望不错过任何一个由作者精心编织的结构上的暗示。
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