Name: The Poverty of Slavery
ISBN: 978-3-319-48968-1

Authors:

Robert E. Wright ⁰

Robert E. Wright
1. Augustana University, Sioux Falls, USA
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Refutes claims that slavery aids economic growth and development
Redefines and broadens the spectrum of unfree labor
Succinct but historically and geographically comprehensive
Uses the theory of externalities in lieu of standard neoclassical analysis

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

Front Matter

Pages i-ix

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Yet Another Half Untold
- Robert E. Wright
Pages 1-17
Various Degrees of Liberty
- Robert E. Wright
Pages 19-38
A Not So Peculiar Institution
- Robert E. Wright
Pages 39-71
Slavery Resilient
- Robert E. Wright
Pages 73-115
That Which Is Seen: Enslavers’ Profits
- Robert E. Wright
Pages 117-141
That Which Is Unseen I: Slavery’s Pollution
- Robert E. Wright
Pages 143-197
That Which Is Unseen II: Slavery’s Hidden Costs
- Robert E. Wright
Pages 199-232
Real Abolition
- Robert E. Wright
Pages 233-247
Back Matter

Pages 249-302

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About this book

This ground-breaking book adds an economic angle to a traditionally moral argument, demonstrating that slavery has never promoted economic growth or development, neither today nor in the past. While unfree labor may be lucrative for slaveholders, its negative effects on a country’s economy, much like pollution, drag down all members of society. Tracing the history of slavery around the world, from prehistory through the US Antebellum South to the present day, Wright illustrates how slaveholders burden communities and governments with the task of maintaining the system while preventing productive individuals from participating in the economy.

Historians, economists, policymakers, and anti-slavery activists need no longer apologize for opposing the dubious benefits of unfree labor. Wright provides a valuable resource for exposing the hidden price tag of slaving to help them pitch antislavery policies as matters of both human rights and economic well-being.

Keywords

negative externality
human trafficking
forced labor
sex slavery
sexual exploitation
labor
chattel
coerced labor
emancipation
market failure
abolition

Reviews

“Wright’s book ought to be considered as the synthesis of an underappreciated analytical tradition regarding the broader economic consequences of slavery.” (EH.Net, May, 2018) “This book is a vigorous rejoinder to the oft-repeated historical claim that immense profits derived from slavery powered the development of today's all-consuming system of globalized capitalism. When arguing persuasively for the contrary view, that slavery produced impoverishment, not affluence, Robert Wright marshals arguments based on a truly encyclopedic familiarity with slavery systems the world over, in the past as well as in the present. The debate that this book should initiate is very much welcome and timely in the extreme.” (James Brewer Stewart, Founder, Historians Against Slavery)

Authors and Affiliations

Augustana University, Sioux Falls, USA

Robert E. Wright

About the author

Robert E. Wright is the Nef Family Chair of Political Economy at Augustana University, USA. He has co/authored or co/edited two dozen books on US economic history and policy, including Corporation Nation, Fubarnomics, and One Nation Under Debt. He has served on the board of Historians Against Slavery, an NGO, since 2012.

Bibliographic Information

Book Title: The Poverty of Slavery
Book Subtitle: How Unfree Labor Pollutes the Economy
Authors: Robert E. Wright
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48968-1
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Economics and Finance, Economics and Finance (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-48967-4Published: 06 February 2017
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-48968-1Published: 20 February 2017
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: IX, 302
Topics: Microeconomics, Labor Economics, Economic History