Book Review: Declaration by William Hogeland

The Declaration by William Hogeland moves into the grandeur of the nine weeks leading up to the Declaration of Independence. Throughout the book the history and thoughts of Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and other notable characters interact with events that eventually lead to a call for revolution. Hidden within the pages are intrigue, drama, and political debates that almost derailed a society into maintaining its servitude position under the British Crown. Yet it was these events that lead to one of the world's longest running social experiments.

With the secret meetings of Samuel Adams, the unfair taxes paid to the crown, a lack of colonial representation, and eventually the Boston Massacre, events played an important part in convincing the masses it was time for action. Through publications and printed works like Common Sense, insider knowledge, rumor dropping, farmer groups, and radicals a new way of viewing society emerged. This new view spiraled into a whole level of existence and way of thinking.

Debates raged in everything from sufferance to landless representation. To many at the time the uneducated and landless were known as an unruly "mob" that would blindly follow the intimate desires of the more influential owners of labor. The structure of these debates were a new paradigm of governmental responsibility that many Americans take for granted today. The society we know today almost never was. Through blood, sweat, and tears colonists began to see themselves as a singular entity with unalienable rights.

The book discussed the period in American history from May 1, 1776 to July 4th, 1776 in striking detail. Furthermore, it maintains a credible level of references that support the authors thoughts and work with historically accurate accounts of events. The book helps Americans put in perspective a more true context of the countries beginning and modern political debate. Before the foamy ale we currently know as Samuel Adams, and the exciting colors that light up the sky on Independence Day, is a history many have forgotten. It is a story of struggle against physical, political, and intellectual persecution that eventually lead to the development of a free people endowed with rights to choose their own destiny.

Hogeland, W. (2010). Declaration: The nine tumultuous weeks when American became independent, May 1-July 4, 1776. NY: Simon & Schulster. ISBN: 978-1-4165-8409-4

Pages: 186
Price: $7.00
Blog Rating: 4.1
 Notes: The book is worth the read and easy to follow. It provides an overview of the those 9 weeks before the election and a level of insight into some of the more notable characters of liberty. Nice use of references and notes page. It is worth its current price. 

Human Instincts, Workmanship and Economic Development

The innate nature of man is to contribute to the development of the organization and society. Through the purposeful enhancement of individual workers, society can reap the rewards of higher levels of performance. Such performance is a natural instinct of man when given appropriate guidance and opportunities for development. Managers can contribute to the economic development of their society by fostering the instinctual self-interest of individuals to contribute to survival of the entire organization. 

"Chief among those instinctive dispositions that conduce directly to the material well-being of the race {I'm pretty sure this means the human species/mankind}, and therefore to its biological success, is perhaps the instinctive bias here spoken of as the sense of workmanship." -Thorstein Veblen

Instincts have a large impact on why man engages in meaningful work. As a biological creature he seeks to develop the well-being of his race and in essence his own overall success. Within the context of the organization, instincts are tied to behavior and eventually to the methods by which people find needs attainment. Instincts seek concrete objects while habits are the methodology of achieving these concrete objects (Brette 2003).

In the work Instinct of Workmanship, Thorstein Veblen discusses man and his instincts as the elemental parts of an economic system. To him man, through his natural development, is instinctively pushing himself to learn, innovate and create more efficient methods of ensuring survival (Veblen, 1914). The development of tools and machines is a natural part of this process (Ayres 1958).

Understanding human behavior is important for understanding both organizational development and economics. All socio-economic development theories rely on human behavior as their foundational understanding (Jensen 1987). Therefore, psychology and economic development within an organization, or a nation, are inherently tied to behavior that can be adjusted through development of new habits based in instinctual expression.  These concepts are spawned by Darwinian explanations of biological development and adaptation.

As innovations improve they naturally create structural changes in the environment. The structural changes further adjust people's thoughts and habits that eventually lead to alignment with organizational and societal adjustments. The process of adjustment and adaptation continues because it is within man's best interest to survive, develop, and overcome. The creation of institutions and their development fits within this instinctual pattern of survival.

"The typical human endowment of instincts, as well as the typical make-up of the race {mankind} in the physical respect, has according to this current view been transmitted intact from the beginning of humanity. . . . On the other hand the habitual elements of human life change unremittingly and cumulatively, resulting in a continued proliferous growth of institutions. Changes in the institutional structure are continually taking place in response to the altered discipline of life under changing cultural conditions, but human nature remains specifically the same. (1914, 18)"

 Society develops by creating ever higher levels of efficiency with its use of tools and effort. Therefore, as society develops and becomes more complex man creates the need for division of labor and institutional development in order to create higher levels of utility (Edgell 1975). With such an understanding it is possible to see how successful organizations are more able to capitalize off of the instincts inherent in every persons self-interest.

Let us put this within an example. People are naturally driven by their survival instincts to develop and innovate. Employees use the the tools available to them, through the job specialization they have learned, in order to create the most efficient use of their time. The more skill they have, the less time they spend to fulfill their financial needs. Managers not only control this function within an organization but also have a responsibility to encourage workplace adaptations that benefit the organizations. Empowering employees to use the drive of their instincts to create habits that find solutions to organizational problems contribute to their, the organizations, and society's survival. 

Key Points:
-Man is driven by instincts that create habits.
-Man's habits help him obtain resources from the environment.
-Tools, machines, and organizations help man use his time efficiently.
-Organizational management should encourage the natural instincts of employees to develop.
-Individual development contributes to organizational and societal development.
- The economic system is fostered through individual instinctual development.

Ayres, C. (1958). Veblen's Theory of Instincts Reconsidered. In Thorstein Veblen: A Critical Reappraisal, edited by D. F. Dowd, 25-37. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1958. 


Brette, O. (2003) Thorstein Veblen's Theory of Institutional Change: Beyond Technological Determinism. European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 10, (3), 455-477. 

Edgell, S. (1975). Thorstein Veblen's Theory of Evolutionary Change. American Journal of Economics and Sociology 34, (3), 267-280. 


Jensen, H.(1987). The Theory of Human Nature. Journal of Economic Issues 21, (3), 1039-1073. 


Veblen, T (1898). The Instinct of Workmanship and the Irksomeness of Labor. American Journal of Sociology 4, (2), 187-201.  

Goal Setting and Motivated Behavior in the Workplace

Goal directed behavior exists within the motivational aspirations of the employee. Nearly all behavior is seen as having some goal or objective that is striving to be fulfilled. Focused goal directed behavior is not driven by environmental conditioning or instinct alone (Locke, 1997). Such behavior must be made through the free choice of options and turned from thoughts into actions. It has a specific goal outcome that employee hopes to achieve by putting forth the energy into a strategy that finally reaches its desired outcome.

Employees will set all types of goals throughout their entire spectrum of influence. Management's job is to help employees ensure that those goals that pertain to the workplace are appropriate for both the employer and employee. Through such directed goals organizations can seek higher levels of alignment between employee actions and organizational needs. True alignment exists when the totality of employee goals further foster the strategic objectives of the organization.

There are three major theories management can use to encourage higher levels of goal alignment and performance in organizations. According to Lock the theories include Management by Objectives, Human Relations and Valence-Instrumentality-Expectancy (VIE) Theory and Job Enrichment and Organizational Behavior Modification (OB Mod)(Locke, 1978). They are as follows:

1.) Management by Objectives (MBO): Under this theory each employee works toward the fulfillment of tasks each day (Taylor, 1911). Through coaching, counseling and oversight employees can be encouraged to meet targeted objectives. As employees are often motivated by rewards the piecemeal rate was developed.

2.) Valence-Instrumentality-Expectancy (VIE) Theory: Victor Vroom believed that valence, expectancy, and instrumentality lead to employees avoiding pain and moving toward motivational pleasure (Vroom, 1964). People exert effort to complete tasks that have workplace outcomes. Valence can be described as the need, expectancy as the expected outcome and instrumentality is the workplace result/reward. Later work includes task/goal setting to achieve outcomes.

3.) Cognitive Growth and OB Mod: Maslow and Herzberg believed that workers have a need to develop a genuine sense of self-worth (Herzberg, 1966). Through appropriate goal setting, feedback, and job enrichment employees can continue to expand their abilities and skill which leads to feelings of self-worth. The theory later included specific goal setting to help employees move in the right direction for self-evaluation.

Each of these theories provide some level of insight into the motivational aspects of behavior within the workplace. It is necessary for employees to first want to achieve some objective and then put their effort toward the achievement of that objective. Each of the theories eventual included goal setting as a method of directing employees along a particular path.


Herzberg, F. (1966). Work and the nature of man. Cleveland: World Publishing Company

Locke, E. (1978). The ubiquity of the technique of goal setting in theories of and approaches to employee motivation. Academy of Management Review, 3 (3).

Locke, E. (1977). The myths of behavior mod in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 2.

Taylor, F. (1911). The principles of scientific management. New York: Norton.

Vroom, Victor H. (1964). Work and motivation. John Wiley & Sons, Inc

The Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn (1642)

The Night Watch (1642) is one of the most famous paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn. The name is actually incorrect as the painting was inappropriately covered in dark varnish and appears to depict a night scene. However, the varnish was removed in the 1940's giving the total work a brighter image of day time. The painting was originally entitled Patrouille de Nuit by the French and "Night Watch" by Sir Joshua Reynolds. The intent of the painting was to move the subjects into the bright light of the day.

Rembrandt was born in Leyden to a miller and the daughter of a baker. His father owned a windmill and people came to use the saying that Rembrandt was "born in a windmill". He was brought into a family of five siblings. His father decided that he should study to be a lawyer but instead he turned to art. He received his earliest training from a relative by the name of Jacob van Swanenburch before moving onto more skilled masters. He finally moved to Amsterdam and married a wealthy lady by the name of Saskia van Ulenburg.

The painting is conducted of a Musketeer company. Captain Frans Banning-Kock and his company paid Rembrandt for a historic and glorious picture walking in the middle of day in their full dress. The two figures walking are Frans Banning-Cocq, Lord of Furmerland and Ipendam, the company captain. The archers guild who commissioned the painting refused to give Rembrandt the money because their faces were not clearly visible. He thus received the worst compensation out of any of his paintings.

The Musketeer (mousquetaire) was considered part of the basic infantry in early European history. They could at times be used as a dragoon on horseback and were lightly armed. Around 1850's they were replaced by rifleman except in Germany where they maintained the name until WWI. They were also used in Turkey where the famous Janissary Corps was formed. China also used the musketeers since the 1400s.  At times the muskets were adapted to shields and created slow burn machine guns by turning the shield as each shot was fired. 

The painting was drawn during the Dutch Golden Age that lasted from 1568-1648. The time was marked by increased wealth and flourishing works in trade, science, military and art. In 1568 seven provinces signed the Union of Utrech which started the 80 years war as a rebellion against Spain. This war continued until the Peace of Westphalia which gave the country formal recognition. The Dutch East India company started the first modern stock market and the Bank of Amsterdam was established as the first central bank.

The Concept of Business Cycles and Recession in Economics

Economic cycles are a natural part of business life and have occurred in one form or another for nearly every generation. These boom and bust cycles exist in everything from the biological organisms to stock market investing. It is often beneficial to view economic theories of business cycles to understand how imperfect information impacts the national economy as it moves through these growth patterns. Such cycles are many years in the making and can have a devastating impact on the economy if recovery is not forthcoming.

Bob Lucas, a Nobel  Prize Laureate, developed a monetary theory of business cycles that helps explain economic growth spurts and decline (1972). To him, inaccurate perceptions of economic factors contribute to these cycles that push the system out of homeostasis. Firms, and their management, only have limited time and resources for understanding their environment and typically focus on only that information which is needed for their immediate purposes. It takes considerable amount of effort for firms to figure out what changes in the environment are temporary and what changes are more permanent. It is this inaccuracy that leads to market overreaction that veers the system off of course.

It is beneficial to see how this works in a smaller market. Organizations working within a localized market determine the prices they can reasonably sell their products (Lucas Jr., 1972). Price is impacted by the amount of purchases and the supply of  products. With perfect information quantities adjust to supply while prices respond to aggregate spending shocks. Accordingly, with imperfect information firms respond to aggregate spending shocks in the short-run but not the supply quantities in the long run. This can create overproduction which impacts the economic chain throughout a business cycle and even into the next generation.

A model developed by Paul Samuelson (1958) helps to further explain the concept of a generational contract. Two generations, one young and one old, are engaged in the market. The young sell part of their production to the old who give the young financial compensation. The young hope to save some of the money in the anticipation of purchasing products from the next generation. The entire process works off of anticipation and an implied social contract. It is believed that by producing today the young will reap the rewards of their work tomorrow.

The wider impact of this veering off of course can impact generational growth potentially breaking the generational economic cycle. Artificially adjusting the market in one generation could have an impact on the economic viability of the next. Using the above example it is possible to see how an economic problem is created if one generation cannot produce and save in order to purchase from the next generation. As the money supply dries up, underutilized human capital, and contraction limits employment opportunities it will effectively leave one generation worse off than preceding generations. To fix this problem may lay in expanding the market to other nations (i.e. selling of products and services) to use excess labor capital, improve investment returns, and create natural liquidity in cash flow.

According to Dobrescu and Paicu (2012), when additional monies are injected into the system the prices of products increases which causes inflationary pressure. In essence, the products are rising in monetary terms but not in their real earthly value. An injection of money from a large generation of people with easy credit will impact the amount of money available for the next and smaller generation who are selling their production. A large market expansion could cause a comparatively large contraction later. The excessive use of credit and debt artificially inflates the system while ignoring underlining market principles. A contraction in such a situation is likely to be more devastating when a products "real worth" becomes realized (i.e. housing crisis).

We learn that as economic firms overact to market increases they will increase production based upon price increases. If credit markets are artificially expanded to increase purchases it hedges out the next generations purchasing power and money supply. One of the generations will need to pay the debt back or default on the debt. There will be a large contraction, or market flux, when this money is not available for purchases of products that keep the generational exchange of money and labor in full growth. As the market contracts the GNP and economic system slows down. The cost of debt becomes over-burdensome in an economic recession creating additional difficulties in market clearance.

Boom and bust cycles are common in normal economic activity. Such boom and bust cycles often follow an increase in production and then a quick contraction as resources are used up (Sherman & Hunt, 2008). The same cycle can occur in credit markets, production of goods, housing prices, or even entire economies. When boom and bust cycles are large it can impact generational growth patterns as seen in a long-term economic recession. Before an economic system can move back into homeostasis it must complete a market clearing of excess supply and demand. However, excessive periods of market clearing mechanisms may change the underlining assumptions of the entire economic system.


Dobrescu, M. & Paicu, C. (2012). New approaches to business cycle theory in current economic science. Theoretical & Applied Economics, 19 (7).

Lucas, R. (1972). Expectations and the Neutrality of Money. Journal of Economic Theory, 4, pp. 103-124.

Sherman, H. & Hunt, E. (2008). Spread of the business cycle. Economics: An introduction and progressive views (6th Edition). Armonk, NY: ME. Sharp.

Book Review: When Generations Collide

When Generations Collide, by Lynne Lancaster and David Stillman, provide insight into the manners, decision making choices, values and work habits of four generations within the workplace. The Millennials, Generation X, Baby Boomers, and Traditionalists each have their own perception and needs within the workplace. Understanding how these generations act and interact with their environment fosters better ways of encouraging cross-generational understandings.

The book discusses concepts including generational turbulence, WWI to WWII, race, religion, gender, language, and different approaches to management. Understanding how each generation views the workplace and sees their contribution to the environment is important for managing these different vantage points within the workplace. Furthermore, the book also provides some insight on how to get these groups to work more closely together and understand each other.

There is an outline of the approximate generational groups:

1.) Traditionalists
2.) Baby Boomers
3.) Generation X
4.) Millennial

The work is written through a case study and employee perspective. It doesn't provide a lot of hard facts on the concepts but does offer a level of discussion that the majority of managers will understand. The book is not also academic by nature but would have been a worthwhile read in the past. The book is now considered out of date and uses some incorrect terminology. It is suggested you find an updated version

Blog Ranking: 3-1 (age of book)=2.0
Additional Source: Website for an overview.
Cost:  $7.00 New (I bought mine for $1.00 used).
Pages: 384

Lancaster, L. & Stillman, D. (2002). When generations collide. New York: HarperCollins. ISB: 0-06-662107-0

Avoid the Fiscal Cliff-Economic Freedom Speech in Canada