Management Policy and Privacy

Austan Goolsbee and Mark Thoma suggest there is a greater adaptability in the American Business format to technological change. They cite increased Productivity rates, but can such be alleged without consideration of reduced Labor Participation rates? Can Productivity be considered enhanced, if it comes from elimination of Aged and Inefficient Employees? There is no intrinsic gain in Productivity, only in Speeding the Production line through elimination of lower Productivity Labor Support Costs. The Halo of American genius may be a little tarnished by a ‘Use and Discard’ philosophy of Employee management.

The study of American Takeovers of foreign business may express greater adaptability by dumping the self-same Aged and Inefficient Employees from the Labor rolls, a shark-like desire to rip the flesh off to the bone; all without the slightest Care taken for vested rights of Employees. Some Europeans might allege similarity to mafioso-style butchery of legitimate businesses, to sell off the component Parts at Profit; later selling the Name itself for Profit, but without assets. Some mafia types may even be jealous of modern American Management policy, if for nothing else their immunity from the RICO Act.

Peter. T. Leeson tries to rebut Dani Rodrik in Dani’s disbelief in the functional ability of non-Government regulated free markets. I have not explored the links provided in the Post, but do believe any argument for unregulated free markets rely totally on the non-suppression of information about the market transactions. This means all Business Concerns would have to allow Public Access to all their Transactional Records, making such Records accessible through some cheap medium–like Posting on the Web. Any Privacy demanded by Business Interests would lead to oppression of the Choice-Profile of Consumers; inciting unstructured choice of Products to the Consumers’ Price disadvantage. Provision of these Records to easy Access would, in itself, require some form of Third-Party supervision and regulation–i.e., anarchy of Markets will fail. lgl