When a job applicant is bargaining with an employer for a position, the applicant is often at a

disadvantage—needing the job more than the employer needs that particular applicant. John Bates Clark

(1847–1938), often named as the first great American economist, wrote in 1907: “In the making of the wages

contract the individual laborer is always at a disadvantage. He has something which he is obliged to sell and
332 14 • Labor Markets and Income

which his employer is not obliged to take, since he [that is, the employer] can reject single men with impunity.”

To give workers more power, the U.S. government has passed, in response to years of labor protests, a number

of laws to create a more equal balance of power between workers and employers. These laws include some of

the following:

• Setting minimum hourly wages

• Setting maximum hours of work (at least before employers pay overtime rates)

• Prohibiting child labor
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