Locke advocated bondage as an alternative to being killed as a prisoner of war. Although he was also an investor in the slave trade, it seems a step above our allies.
Doug Henwood wrote:
> Journal Of Development Economics Vol. 67 (1) pp. 101-127
> Volume 67, Issue 1, 01-February-2002
> Copyright (c) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
>
> Garance Genicot, Department of Economics, University of California at
> Irvine, 3151 SSP, , Irvine, CA 92697, USA
>
> Abstract
>
> Among the oldest and most pervasive economic institutions are bonded labor
> and serfdom. While seemingly exploitative, both bonded labor and serfdom are
> often not imposed on the laborers but voluntarily chosen. It is generally
> the lack of suitable alternatives which makes workers opt for a life in
> servitude. This paper shows that the existence of these voluntary forms of
> servitude itself may restrain the laborers' opportunities so that they are
> left with no better alternative than bondage. Under these circumstances,
> government interventions banning servile institutions, by promoting the
> development of alternative options for the laborers, have the potential to
> substantially improve the condition of a large class of laborers.
>
> Keyword(s): Implicit contract; Bonded labor; Interlinkage; Credit; Coercion
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Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University michael at ecst.csuchico.edu Chico, CA 95929 530-898-5321 fax 530-898-5901