36-7: Rapid wage increases in United States did not take a serious toll on the rate of profit during the first decades of the Golden Age. As the rate of technological change slowed him down in the late 1960s, profits sagged despite a relatively stagnant level of wages.
38: In comparing the United States and Europe, one should not give too much credence to the idea that the United States is achieved full employment, given the growth of temporary jobs.
39: "Similar rates of growth and accumulation generate an increase in employment in the United States and its (sic) stagnation in Europe, because the rate of technological progress has been much more rapid in Europe than in the United States .... to be more precise, the problem is a more rapid substitution of capital for labor in Europe."
39-40: They estimate the respective capital-labor ratios for Europe (Germany, France, and the United Kingdom) and United States. In 1946, the ratio in the US was three times higher than in Europe. By around 1990, the European ratio surpassed that of the United States and continued to grow faster than in the United States.
40: They show another round comparing total private employment. European employment has not increased much since 1946. US employment has been doubled.
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu