Muckraking Fiction
22 May 2006
Editor, The Chicago Tribune Magazine
Dear Editor:
Eric Schlosser's account of the American economy of 100 years ago is to economic history what Star Trek is to space exploration: popular but phony ("'The Jungle' Turns 100," May 21). For example, the so-called "monopolists" back then did not charge "whatever price they liked" - unless they liked to charge low prices. Data from the period show that the real prices of kerosene, coal, meat, steel, tobacco, and other allegedly monopolized products fell continually and dramatically,* suggesting that being a big firm is not synonymous with having monopoly power. Also, the vast bulk of child labor took place on farms, not in factories. And that which did occur in factories was in steady decline for at least 25 years before Upton Sinclair wrote "The Jungle."
Like Sinclair's novel, Schlosser's celebration of it is a piece of muckraking fiction.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
* See, for example, Thomas J. DiLorenzo, "The Origins of Antitrust: An Interest-Group Perspective," International Review of Law and Economics, June 1985.
Editor, The Chicago Tribune Magazine
Dear Editor:
Eric Schlosser's account of the American economy of 100 years ago is to economic history what Star Trek is to space exploration: popular but phony ("'The Jungle' Turns 100," May 21). For example, the so-called "monopolists" back then did not charge "whatever price they liked" - unless they liked to charge low prices. Data from the period show that the real prices of kerosene, coal, meat, steel, tobacco, and other allegedly monopolized products fell continually and dramatically,* suggesting that being a big firm is not synonymous with having monopoly power. Also, the vast bulk of child labor took place on farms, not in factories. And that which did occur in factories was in steady decline for at least 25 years before Upton Sinclair wrote "The Jungle."
Like Sinclair's novel, Schlosser's celebration of it is a piece of muckraking fiction.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
* See, for example, Thomas J. DiLorenzo, "The Origins of Antitrust: An Interest-Group Perspective," International Review of Law and Economics, June 1985.
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Thursday March 8, 2007 at 6:09pm