If one could not convince the majority to work hard (while consuming less), the experts knew that the depoliticization of the economy would get them to submit. Indeed, the agenda was to remove “controls in various forms,” including laws that protected labor. Th e reestablishment of an unfettered labor market, especially in times of defl ation, warranted a natural disciplining of the labor force through a threat of ending up in the ranks of the reserve army of labor if they refused to accept lower wages.

Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, loc. 796