The debate about wages

The article appraises an economic initiative developed by members of the New Left in the UK in the form of A Socialist Wages Plan written by Ken Alexander and John Hughes. Their proposal was significant, coming at a time when some commentators argued the Labour Party was seeking to mimic aspects of the Swedish social democratic model and because of the measures adopted by the 1964-1970 Labour government. The hostility from scholars and political activists (some of whom subsequently came to support such measures) generated by the pamphlet is discussed, demonstrating how their ideas fared during the first years of Harold Wilson's Labour government and concluding that they had virtually no impact on the trajectory adopted by that administration. A Socialist Wages Plan did reflect some similarities to the anti-inflationary approach adopted by the Swedish social democrats. However, such parallels were not indicative of a more open outlook amongst the British left: debate remained essentially insular. The conclusion notes the importance of norms and ethos, as opposed to theoretical considerations, in shaping the strategic direction of the Labour Party

Democracy · Economics · Ethos · Government (linguistics · Ideology · Incomes policy · Parallels · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social democracy · Sociology · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Public Administration

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