Methods of Social Reform and Other Papers

Marx and Engels have several disagreements with Jevons’ conclusions, specifically regarding nationalization of industries such as transportation and banks, and heavy government involvement in supporting collective bargaining.

A segment of Jevons’ Methods of Social Reform discusses the proper role of government in the market, a theme public choice theory attempts to elucidate and discover the circumstances of government failure.

Schuck explores the negative ramifications of government expansion in individuals’ lives through the discussion of why policies have counterintuitive effects, expanding on Jevons’ examples of government failure.

Jevons examined economic problems of his day such as labor unions, government intervention, and inequality, themes Acemoglu and Roberts touch on and apply to today’s economic conditions.

One of Jevons’ key essays in Methods is Married Women in Factories, in which he explores the societal effects of women in the workplace. Here Dublin presents a smaller scale analysis of the challenges of America’s original community of working women.

A theme Jevons touches on in Methods is the state’s role in protecting labor, such as in regard to intervention in collective bargaining. This is expanded upon in The State in Relation to Labor with special emphasis on English class conflict.