Fascist economist Pantaleoni blamed rising wages for moral decline

Evidence

Thanks to Bolshevism, the modesty in the standard of living that characterized Italians has vanished. It has disappeared in both the working class and the peasantry. It is disgusting to witness the masses of workers that are drunk in all our cities…. The notable increase of wages was not accompanied by greater civilization. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 198

Categorization

• CANDY: Maffeo Pantaleoni, founding father of neoclassical economics, complained that higher wages produced drunk, less ‘civilized’ workers — a tart, shareable quote.
• XREF: connects to: Italian economists framed public employment as destroying the work ethic — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1241; Italian economists blamed poverty on working-class moral defects rather than economic causes — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1141; Italian austerity economists blamed wartime gains for working-class moral decline — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1142 (+1 more)