Yellow-Blue Collars: American Labor and the Pursuit of Swedish Policy, 1961-1963

Abstract

This article studies the Kennedy administration’s labor market policies as a case of lesson drawing during a transnational moment in the early 1960s. With the election of Kennedy, leaders in the labor movement rose to positions of policymaking influence, in the process reimagining the United States’ political and economic landscape. This spirit of reform led to the embrace of Sweden’s solidarity wage policy and Rehn-Meidner model as lessons on how to balance full employment, economic growth, and a powerful labor movement. However, Secretary of Labor Arthur Goldberg and Walter Reuther of the United Automobile Workers found implementing Swedish policies to be more difficult than they expected, even with the support of a sitting president. Their experiences demonstrate the possibility for policy diffusion from small states to the United States over a short period, as well as its risks and limitations.