''American Capitalism: The Concept of Countervailing Power'' is a book by

John Kenneth Galbraith John Kenneth Galbraith (October 15, 1908 – April 29, 2006), also known as Ken Galbraith, was a Canadian-American economist, diplomat, public official, and intellectual. His books on economic topics were bestsellers from the 1950s through the ...

, written in 1952. It contains a critique of the view that markets, left to their own devices, will provide socially optimal solutions. Galbraith agrees with

F. A. Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek (8 May 1899 – 23 March 1992) was an Austrian-born British academic and philosopher. He is known for his contributions to political economy, political philosophy and intellectual history. Hayek shared the 1974 Nobe ...

as far as the assertion goes that "the price system will fulfil tsfunction only if competition prevails, that is, if the individual producer has to adapt to price changes and cannot control them." The book presents Galbraith's account of the inter-relationship between politics and economics which for Galbraith is based on a theory of competition guiding a capitalistic democratic society.

Synopsis and summary

Galbraith builds on work by Prof. E. H. Chamberlin of Harvard and

Joan Robinson Joan Violet Robinson ( Maurice; 31 October 1903 – 5 August 1983) was a British economist known for her wide-ranging contributions to economic theory. One of the most prominent economists of the century, Robinson incarnated the "Cambridge Sc ...

at Cambridge, as well as the work done by Joe S. Bain of the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

, arguing that the America of the early 1950s no longer complied to a textbook definition of

Perfect competition In economics, specifically general equilibrium theory, a perfect market, also known as an atomistic market, is defined by several idealizing conditions, collectively called perfect competition, or atomistic competition. In Economic model, theoret ...

. On page 66 he sets out the conclusions which result from the abandonment of competitive behaviour in favour of

oligopoly An oligopoly () is a market in which pricing control lies in the hands of a few sellers. As a result of their significant market power, firms in oligopolistic markets can influence prices through manipulating the supply function. Firms in ...

or crypto-monopoly:

"The producer now has measurable control over his prices. Hence, prices are no longer an impersonal force selecting the efficient man, forcing him to adapt the most efficient mode and scale of operations and driving out the inefficient and incompetent. One can as well suppose that prices will be an umbrella which efficient and incompetent producers will tacitly agree to hold at a safe level over their heads and under which all will live comfortably, profitably and inefficiently."

Just as the market at the micro-level may not always work to society's advantage, Galbraith concludes that

Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist and philosopher whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originall ...

was correct in his explanation of the deficiencies of the macro-model where an equilibrium was possible below the

full employment Full employment is an economic situation in which there is no cyclical or deficient-demand unemployment. Full employment does not entail the disappearance of all unemployment, as other kinds of unemployment, namely structural and frictional, may ...

level of output and that without outside intervention, this equilibrium might persist. Galbraith highlights the role of "

Countervailing Power Countervailing power, or countervailance, is the idea in political theory that the wielding of power by two or more groups, centers, or sets of interests within a polity can, and often does, yield beneficial effects through productive opposition an ...

" in dealing with

market failure In neoclassical economics, market failure is a situation in which the allocation of goods and services by a free market is not Pareto efficient, often leading to a net loss of economic value.Paul Krugman and Robin Wells Krugman, Robin Wells (2006 ...

& outlines its operation at the micro, and at the macro levels. At the micro level, firms might merge or band together to influence the price. Individual wage earners might also combine in unions to influence wage rates. Finally, government might intervene in the market place where required to provide regulation where countervailing power failed to develop but was nevertheless required. He concluded that Countervailing power was legitimate and welcome as the alternative of state control would be much less palatable to the business community. Without countervailing power, Galbraith concluded (p181):

"private decisions could and presumably would lead to the unhampered exploitation of the public, or of workers, farmers and others who are intrinsically weak as individuals. Such decisions would be a proper object of state interference or would soon so become."

Notes

{{Authority control 1952 non-fiction books Books critical of capitalism 1952 in economic history Houghton Mifflin books Books by John Kenneth Galbraith