A History of the American People, by Paul Johnson

    On page 578, Emma Lazarus' "The New Colossus" is misquoted.  Johnson gives lines 13-14 as
Send these, the homeless, the tempest-toss'd to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
with 4 divergences from the correct version:
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!


 
    "Ford grasped that Big Business, with its economies of scale, could lead to even bigger business provided it shared its profits with its workforce by paying handsome wages.  In 1914, when industrial workers were averaging about $11 a week, he abruptly decided to pay his men $5 for an eight-hour day, so that they could all buy his Model Ts.  The idea was obvious but new, and valid."  (pp. 606-7)

    No.  It is not credible that Ford raised his profits by giving his workers more money with which to buy his product.  Even in the unlikely case that the workers spend the ENTIRE wage increase on Ford cars, so that Ford gets the entire wage increase back in higher revenues, he still loses, because he has to pay the cost of making the extra cars the workers buy.  More.
 

Return to main Notes page.

This page maintained by Steven Blatt. Suggestions, comments, questions, and corrections are welcome.