Over a century ago Karl Marx, in what is known as the immiserization hypothesis , pre- dicted that workers’ wages and incomes in the advanced industrial countries would tend to fall – thus bringing on a socialist revolution. This prediction has failed. Some defend- ers of Marx have argued that immiserization did not occur because in the meantime capitalism has adopted “socialistic” reforms. Among these might perhaps be classed minimum-wage laws, the 40-hour week, welfare relief for the unemployed, and laws encouraging trade unions and collective bargaining. What effects would you expect each of these reforms to have upon wage rates? upon workers’ incomes?