F. W. Taussig

American Corporations and Their Executives: A Statistical Inquiry

I. Subject and methods of the inquiry: Industries covered and questions asked, 1. — A pre-war period selected, 7. — Arrangement of the returns by classes and groups, 9. — II. Stock ownership by executives: Their salaries, 11. — Extent to which executives hold stock in large concerns, 12. — In moderate and small concerns, 14. — Stockholdings by relatives or friends of the executives, 18. — Executive salaries, by classes and groups, 19. — Fixity of salaries; only in the long run adjusted to corporate earnings, 20. — Proportion of management expense to capital, 23. — Proportion in close corporations and in those widely owned, 27. — Rarity of arrangements for bonus or profit-sharing, 28. — III. Earnings and surpluses, for all classes, 30. — For the first class, 33. — For the second class, 34. — Earnings in the first class more regular but less high, 35. — Dividends and surpluses, 37. — Significance of surplus, 39. — IV. The theory of profits: Contrast between American and European practice, 40. — Two views on theory: the one regarding business profits as a form of wages, the other as distinct from wages, 40. — American practice in accord with the second view, 42. — European practice, especially on the Continent, implies more nearly the first view: The tantieme, 43. — The merits and demerits of the two practices, 48. — Conclusion, 59.

Is Market Price Determinate

The current doctrine stated, 394. — In fact, demand often does not respond to price in the way assumed, 396. — The penumbra of indeterminate prices, 397. — Cases of fixed seasonal supply, 398. — Supplies that can be carried over, 400. — The demand curve not always negatively inclined, 402. — Speculation does not necessarily stabilize prices, 403. — Commodities produced continuously, 403. — Stock exchange dealings, 405. — The traditional grounds for justifying speculation not applicable to stock exchange dealings, 407. — Application of the present reasoning to dumping, 409. — To war prices, 410. — Conclusion, 410.

Minimum Wages for Women

The question to be considered in the light of economic theory, 411. — The broad facts, 413. — Is womens labor parasitic ? 414. — Questionable figures, 416. — Dominant position of the home-dwellers, 418. — Numbers offering to work the important factor, 419. — Influence of conjunction with other labor, 422. — Will management become more efficient? 424. — Will the women become more efficient? 426. — How far lack of bargaining power explains the low wages, 428. — The fundamental cause is large numbers; connection with immigration, 432. — Results to be expected if a high minimum were prescribed for all, 433. — The drifting class, and prolongation of education, 435. — The self-dependent minority, 438. — Conclusion: an opportunist policy, 440.

International Trade Under Depreciated Paper. A Contribution to Theory

I. An assumed case of large foreign borrowing by a paper money country, 381. — Consequences on the rates of foreign exchange, 382. — A digression: present conditions in Germany and Europe abnormal, and little pertinent to this discussion, 384. — Effects under ordinary conditions on the prices of exported and imported goods, 386. — A transition stage; is there a bounty on exports? 388. — II. Ultimate effects, as they would be if both countries were on the gold basis, 391. — In what way, in such case, international lending may lead directly to increased exports of merchandise, 392. — But increased exports are usually the indirect consequence of gold movements, 394. — Resulting changes in relative wages and prices, 395. — No such mechanism, however, in case of depreciated paper, 396. — An analogous result, yet a different one, through the movement of goods, 397. — III. Difficulty of verifying this analysis through inductive inquiry, 400. — Partial verification of a confirmatory character not impossible, 402.

The Tariff Act of 1922

The tariff act of 1913 inconclusive as an experiment, 2. — Two factors important in 1922: war feeling, and demand for protection from the agricultural states, 3. — History of legislation, 6. — Concessions to the agricultural element, in duties and in the free list, 7. — Wool and sugar, 9. — Some extraordinarily high duties on manufactures, 11. — Dyestuffs, 14. — Administrative provisions and American valuation, 17. — The Presidents discretionary powers, 19. — How serviceable did the Tariff Commission prove? 22. — General administrative provisions, 24. — Conclusion, 26.

The Plan for a Compensated Dollar

I. The plan, rigidly adhered to, would bring long-run stability of prices, 402. — But temporary oscillations, of unpredictable extent, would continue, 403. — Causes of uncertainty in the connection between quantity of coin and prices, 403. — II. Adoption of the plan by international agreement seems impossible, 407. — Nor would a single country be likely to adopt it, 410. — III. It is uncertain whether and how far general prices will continue to rise, 412. — The general public is uneasy chiefly about the rise in food prices, 413. — Present evils not unendurable, and the scheme not practicable, 416.

Beet Sugar and the Tariff

Twenty-five years ago, little expectation of the growth of a beet-sugar industry, 189. — Great growth since 1890, 191. — Concentration in the far West, 193. — Climatic advantages of the arid region, 195. — Intensive cultivation required, 197. — A large labor supply needed; an agricultural proletariat? 199. — The sugar manufacturers active in procuring the labor, 202. — Little beet sugar in the Central West, 203. — The explanation is in the principle of comparative cost: corn is more profitable, 204. — The situation in Michigan, 207. — The beet-sugar manufactories, 208. — Can the argument for protection to young industries be advanced? 212.

Rayon and the Tariff: The Nurture of an Industrial Prodigy

Early history of the industry in Europe, 589.— Growth in the United States since 1911; the American Viscose Company the leading producer, 590. — The technical processes, 592. — Steady improvement of rayon quality, 593.—Protection and its proximate results, 597.—Failures and successes, 600.— Advance in comparative effectiveness, 603.— Costs abroad and at home, 604.—Extraordinary profits, 608.—Domestic and foreign prices, 610.—Duopoly; international ramifications and combinations, 614.— Summary on tariff effects, 617.— The future, 619.

Labor Costs in the United States Compared with Costs Elsewhere

The comparison is of labor costs in the sense of quantity of labor per unit of output. — I. Coal in the United States and other countries, 98. — II. The United States and Great Britain: iron and steel; other articles, 102. — III. Window-glass in the United States, Belgium, and Sweden, 107. — IV. Cotton goods in the United States and Japan, 111.

How to Promote Foreign Trade

I. Popular misconceptions concerning foreign trade, 417. — The balance of trade, in general and between particular countries, 419. — Disturbances in trade balances due to the war, 422. — The effectiveness of industry the source and the test of advantage in foreign trade, 425. — II. Four dubious devices for promoting foreign trade: Export bounties, 427. — Reduced transportation rates for export business, 429. — Reduced prices of goods for export, 431. — Discriminating duties in foreign countries in favor of American goods, 435. — III. International relations and American trade policy, 442. — Conclusion, 443.