Sequential Growth and the Development of American Unionism

George Murphy and Arnold Zellner, who admittedly “have little taste for ghosts or spirit rapping,” seem quite ready to exhume a doctrine and place it in an “up-to-date” package. We welcome historical re-evaluations; but our joys should not preclude us from challenging unwarranted conclusions. While I cannot deliver any spirits, I can at least do some spade work to turn over a few skeletons as partial refutation of the Murphy-Zellner conclusions. In particular; I wish to contest the following statements: (r) that “it [sequential growth] shortened and modulated business cycle contractions [and] contributed to shortening and alleviating critical situations for labor as a whole” (page 420); and (2) that it was largely responsible for “keeping the percentage of the labor force unionized small” (page 408).