Professions are institutions which, through their small size, self-governing elements, and sense of social mission, can assist in maintaining a sound civic culture. As mediating institutions in our democratic society that are neither entirely birthed by the state nor are entirely private, the individual professions-such as the legal and education professions, journalism, economics, architecture, or the military-arguably present practical avenues through which to teach civic behavior and to restore Americans' broken trust. This volume on the professions and civic life undertakes a unique and timely examination of twelve individual professions to see how each affects the character of American citizenship and the civic culture of the nation through their practices and ethos. Among the questions each essay in the volume addresses are: What is distinctive-or not-about the specific profession as it came to be practiced in the United States? Given the specialized knowledge, training, and sometimes licensing of a profession, what do the professions perceive to be their role in promoting the larger common good? How can we bring professionals' expert knowledge to bear on social problems in an open and deliberative way? Is the ethic of a particular profession as it understands itself today at odds with the American conception of self-government and a healthy civic life? Through analysis of these questions, each chapter presents a rich treatment of how the twelve longstanding professions of political science, teaching, the law, the military, economics, medicine, journalism, literature, science, architecture, music, and history help support and challenge the general public's civic behavior in general and their attachment to the American regime in particular.

Comparable worth, or pay equity, is now an established policy in some US states, such as Minnesota, and the UK and Australia. Yet Steven Rhoads's research on those jurisdictions indicates there is no consensus on how to compare the value of dissimilar jobs involving 'comparable' amounts of effort, skill and responsibility. Consultants whose job evaluation systems are used in states adopting comparable worth policies do not agree on the factors to be included or how they should be weighed and arbitrary results produced by comparable worth policies have led to inefficient functioning of the labour markets. These policies have generated ill will among the workers who lose pay-equity cases, with political as well as economic consequences. The book argues that jobs are truly incomparable using the methods comparable worth relies on, and that the principles of comparable worth are not reconcilable with those of a market economy.

Challenging proponents of equal pay for comparable worth, Steven Rhoads argues that implementation has been plagued by critical and insurmountable problems. Where success has been more frequently touted - in Minnesota, England, and Australia - job evaluation results are arbitrary and political rather than objective. In some cases, Rhoads demonstrates, comparable worth has paid workers more than their bosses, while others previously paid equally for doing equal work have been assigned unequal pay. These and other bizarre outcomes have created severe problems for public and private managers. But the most significant costs of comparable worth go far beyond the administrative. By substituting administered wages for market-determined ones, it produces gross inefficiency in labor markets. Wages are held down in the face of shortages, thereby preventing companies and governments from attracting the skilled workers they need. Wages are inflated in the face of surpluses, thus reducing employers' willingness to hire and creating new unemployment. More important still, in the only long-established comparable-worth system - in Australia - the political costs of comparable worth are as severe as the economic ones. In Australia the ill will and bitterness already apparent among the losers in Minnesota localities are magnified many times. People there have come to think of wages as reflecting society's judgment about an individual's worth, and deep and abiding quarrels emerge over tiny differences in pay. In the politicized Australian system, male-dominated unions seek to get the attention of arbitration commissions or recalcitrant companies by strikes, veiled threats, and even physical intimidationand sabotage. The Australian wage-fixing system has produced an unusually contentious politics, dismal economic performance, and few if any real gains for women workers. This is the first book to look at the implementation of comparable worth from a critical perspective. It shows that the principles of comparable worth or pay equity are not reconcilable with those of a market economy.

Released in 1984, Steven E. Rhoads' classic was considered by many to be among the best introductions to the economic way of thinking and its applications. This anniversary edition has been updated to account for political and economic developments - from the greater interest in redistributing income and the ascendancy of behaviorism to the Trump presidency. Rhoads explores opportunity cost, marginalism, and economic incentives and explains why mainstream economists - even those well to the left - still value free markets. He critiques economics for its unbalanced emphasis on narrow self-interest as controlling motive and route to happiness, highlighting philosophers and positive psychologists' findings that happiness is far more dependent on friends and family than on income or wealth. This thought-provoking tour of the economist's mind is a must read for our times, providing a clear, lively, non-technical insight into how economists think and why they shouldn't be ignored.