Against the Profit Motive (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780300194753)

In America today, a public official's lawful income consists of a salary. But until a century ago, the law frequently provided for officials to make money on a profit-seeking basis. Prosecutors won a fee for each defendant convicted. Tax collectors received a percentage of each evasion uncovered. Naval officers took a reward for each ship sunk. Numerous other officers were likewise paid for "performance." This book is the first to document the American government's for-profit past, to discover how profit-seeking defined officialdom's relationship to the citizenry, and to explain how lawmakers--by ultimately banishing the profit motive in favor of the salary--transformed that relationship forever.

Author: Nicholas R. Parrillo
ISBN-10: 0300194757
ISBN-13: 9780300194753
Publisher: Yale University Press
Language: English
Published: 10/22/2013
Pages: 584
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.70lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.00w x 1.40d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 08/01/2014