Annotated Bibliography

Most of the material for the feature presentation was drawn from the following sources:

Lawrence Mishel, Jared Bernstein, and John Schmitt, The State of Working America, 1996-1997 (Washington, D.C.: The Economic Policy Institute, 1997). This annual publication is an indispensable progressive guide to labor market trends.

The New York Times, The Downsizing of America (New York: Random House, 1996). An expanded version of a series that appeared in the paper in 1996, this includes some valuable statistical information from polls, as well as some moving descriptions of individual experiences. It puts more emphasis on the experience of managers and professionals than blue collar workers.

David Gordon, Fat and Mean: The Corporate Squeeze of Working Americans and the Myth of Managerial "Downsizing" (New York: The Free Press, 1996). Economic theory that flies in the face of the conventional wisdom and emphasizes the long-run costs of exploitative labor relations.

Business Week, Preparing Your Business for the Global Economy (New York: McGraw Hill, 1997). A how-to guide for enterprising CEOs. One of the major trends they identify is called "offshore labor."

The following short articles provide some excellent non-technical background reading.

We are in the process of requesting permissions so that we can make them available on-line.

Allen Sloan, "The Hit Men," Newsweek, February 26, 1996. This was the cover story that helped make downsizing a hot political issue in 1996. It includes a punchy critique of "in-your-face-capitalism," and some real-life examples of socially responsible corporations that actually take the welfare of their workers into consideration.

John Cassidy, "All Worked Up," The New Yorker, April 22, 1996. Skeptical that downsizing is either a serious or a new problem, Cassidy criticizes the New York Times series described above and summarizes recent economic research suggesting that long term job stability may not have declined. He quotes Joseph Stiglitz, until recently Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors, to the effect that job creation has been rapid enough to make up for dislocation.

Robert Reich, "Has Downsizing Gone Too Far? Challenge, July-August 1996. This interview with the former Secretary of Labor just before he stepped down provides a good summary of his view that corporations should see their workers as long-run assets, rather than merely another set of costs.

Richard Du Boff, "Globalization and Wages: The Down Escalator," Dollars and Sense, September/October 1997. A good, concise summary of the reasons why increased globalization is probably contributing to growing wage inequality in the U.S.