Who were the original and most passionate opponents of apartheid in South Africa? The classical liberals, and this book was their most important weapon against the problem of racial injustice.
William H. Hutt, an Austro-classical economist in South Africa (later he taught at the University of Dallas), explains that apartheid originated as a labor-union mechanism for artificially restricting the supply of labor and thereby driving up wages for the privileged. He further explains that nearly all the ensuing legal disabilities for blacks in South Africa stemmed from the problem of labor union political influence.
As an old-time liberal, he urged the dismantling of the system to forestall a revolutionary environment that would have nationalized industry and socialized the economy. The study first appeared in 1964, and it was incredibly prescient. It remains the definitive study.
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Hutt was an economist of the classical tradition who identified himself with the Austrian School. He studied at the London School of Economics and became a professor at the University of Cape Town. He is particularly known for his works “The Factory System of the Early Nineteenth Century” (1925), The Theory of Collective Bargaining (1930), and The Strike-Threat System (1973).
London: Merritt & Hatcher Ltd., 1964.
