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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

On Henry Ford's 150th Birthday, His Greatest Insight Has Been Tragically Forgotten

Henry Ford, who was born 150 years ago today, is remembered as the guy who unleashed the full potential of the assembly line, beginning in 1913 when the Ford Motor Company cranked out Model T's much faster and cheaper than anyone could imagine.
But his business philosophy, known as Fordism, went beyond the implementation of mass production.

Ford argued that high wages were essential for economic and moral reasons. As he wrote in his autobiography:

What good is industry if it be so unskillfully managed as not to return a living to everyone concerned? No question is more important than that of wages — most of the people of the country live on wages. The scale of their living — the rate of their wages — determines the prosperity of the country.

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3 comments:

lmclain said...

Well.....tell THAT to the dozens of millionaire Senators and Congressmen who, every time an increase in the minimum wage is brought up, act like someone is nominating Satan as the next Pope. Apparently, they are much smarter than Mr. Ford.

Anonymous said...

3:16
It is not up tot he government to demand that someone pay a certain amount for a wage. Wages should be based on what the job is worth, nothing more nothing less.
The reason we have such a disparity in wages is due to crony capitalism, where those millionaire Senators get huge campaign donations to carve out special rules for their business friends thereby distorting the playing field in their favor.

lmclain said...

3:35...that's a very deep debate, but your reply is essentially my point anyway....