The Great Depression & the New Deal
February 17, 2009 at 10:48 am | Posted in Economy, Historical | Leave a commentTags: C-Span, Eric Rauchway, FDR, great depression, New Deal
Migrant agricultural worker's family. Seven hungry children. Mother aged thirty-two. Father is a native Californian. Destitute in pea picker's camp, Nipomo, California, because of the failure of the early pea crop. These people had just sold their tent in order to buy food. Of the twenty-five hundred people in this camp most of them were destitute. February or March 1936. (Photo: Dorothea Lange)
It’s an hour — I know, I know, your time is precious, but so is your knowledge base.
Make some popcorn, get your comfy chair ready, then hop on over to C-Span and listen to Eric Rauchway, professor of history at UC-Davis, valued contributor to The Edge of the American West and author of several books, including “The Great Depression & the New Deal,” talk about what the Roosevelt administration did to save the United States in a time of national economic collapse.
Dental clinic, FSA (Farm Security Administration) camp, Weslaco, Texas, February 1942. (Photo: Arthur Rothstein)
New Deal Bonus: Unemployment Compensation.
February 12, 2009 at 9:07 pm | Posted in Department of Labor, Historical, Labor | Leave a commentTags: Dorothea Lange, Economy, Franklin Roosevelt, John Steinbeck, New Deal, Peter Orszag, Photographs, unemployment insurance
Unemployment benefits aid begins. Line of men inside a division office of the State Employment Service office at San Francisco, California, waiting to register for benefits on one of the first days the office was open. They will receive from six to fifteen dollars per week for up to sixteen weeks. Coincidental with the announcement that the federal unemployment census showed close to ten million persons out of work, twenty-two states begin paying unemployment compensation. January 1938. (Photo: Dorothea Lange)
Here’s something else terrible (if you’re a Republican) that Franklin Roosevelt’s first administration did:
The program has two main objectives: (1) to provide temporary and partial wage replacement to involuntarily unemployed workers who were recently employed; and (2) to help stabilize the economy during recessions.
The U.S. Department of Labor oversees the system, but each State administers its own program.
There was continued bickering about the unemployment law creating a federal mandate to be administered by state governments, and in May 1943 Arthur J. Altmeyer, then chairman of the Social Security Board, wrote an article titled “The Advantages of Unemployment Insurance As Part of a Unified National Social Insurance Program” in which he stated:
The interview for unemployment compensation, San Francisco, California, January 1938. (Photo: Dorothea Lange)
Certainly no one would question that unemployment is at least as great a national problem as old age. So far as invading a field which historically has belonged to the States, the facts are that before the Social Security Act was under consideration, only one State had enacted an unemployment compensation law and it is doubtful whether that law would have remained on the statute books were it not for the fact that the present Federal Social Security Act creates an irresistible inducement for the States to enact unemployment compensation legislation. As a matter of fact, it was contended by opponents of unemployment compensation in 1935 that this Federal inducement constituted coercion and invasion of States’ rights. Certainly those who so contended cannot now logically argue that relieving the States of an obligation allegedly forced upon them in 1935 is an invasion of States’ rights. However, such discussions get us nowhere in deciding the basic question of what kind of an unemployment compensation system is best from the standpoint of simplicity, adequacy and financial soundness.
In November 2001 the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities (CBPP) published an article by Peter Orszag, now Obama’s Director of the Office of Management & Budget, wherein he argued that “unemployment insurance is a particularly effective stimulus”:
Bindle stiff, used to be logger. Side of Pastime Cafe. Idle three weeks before the opening of the Klamath Basin potato harvest. California, Siskiyou County, Tulelake. August 1939. (Photo: Dorothea Lange)
Those who oppose such temporary expansions in unemployment benefits often argue that the changes would merely reduce the incentives for workers to find jobs. In addition to ignoring the impact of the additional spending created by the expansion in benefits, this concern seems to be less relevant in a deteriorating job market. As the economy slows, longer spells of unemployment are more likely to reflect scarce job opportunities, rather than lack of effort in finding a new job. How many people would be willing to remain unemployed in the middle of a recession in exchange for an extra $25 or so per week?
The Bureau of Labor & Statistics has an article about events leading up to the establishment of the Federal-State Unemployment Compensation Program.
Migrant agricultural worker's family. Seven hungry children. Mother aged thirty-two. Father is a native Californian. Destitute in pea picker's camp, Nipomo, California, because of the failure of the early pea crop. These people had just sold their tent in order to buy food. Of the twenty-five hundred people in this camp most of them were destitute. February or March 1936. (Photo: Dorothea Lange)
UPDATE via Crooks & Liars:
(WaPo) It’s hard enough to lose a job. But for a growing proportion of U.S. workers, the troubles really set in when they apply for unemployment benefits.
More than a quarter of people applying for such claims have their rights to the benefit challenged as employers increasingly act to block payouts to former workers.
The proportion of claims disputed by former employers and state agencies has reached record levels in recent years, according to the Labor Department numbers tallied by the Urban Institute.
U.S. Civilian Conservation Corps
February 7, 2009 at 4:53 pm | Posted in Economy, Historical | Leave a commentTags: Civilian Conservation Corps, Depression, environmental protection, Franklin Roosevelt, New Deal, recreational facilities
Poster promoting the U.S. Civilian Conservation Corps; artist Albert M. Bender for the Illinois WPA Art Project, Chicago, 1941.
Some of the specific accomplishments of the [U.S. Civilian Conservation] Corps during its existence included 3,470 fire towers erected, 97,000 miles of fire roads built, 4,235,000 man-days devoted to fighting fires, and more than three billion trees planted. Five hundred camps were under the control of the Soil Conservation Service, performing erosion control. Erosion was ultimately arrested on more than twenty million acres. The CCC made outstanding contributions in the development of recreational facilities in national, state, county and metropolitan parks.
There were 7,153,000 enrollee man-days expended on other related conservation activities. These included protection of range for the Grazing Service, protecting the natural habitats of wildlife, stream improvement, restocking of fish and building small dams for water conservation. Eighty-three camps in 15 western states were assigned 45 projects of this nature.
Drainage was another important phase of land conservation and management. There were 84,400,000 acres of good agricultural land dependent on man-made drainage systems, an area equal to the combined states of Ohio, Indiana and Iowa. Forty-six camps were assigned to this work under the direction of the U.S. Bureau of Agriculture Engineering. Indian enrollees did much of this work.
Residents of southern Indiana will never forget the emergency work of the CCC during the flooding of the Ohio River in 1937. The combined strength of camps in the area saved countless lives and much property in danger of being swept away. They contributed 1,240,000 man-days of emergency work in floods of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. Other disasters in which the CCC participated were the floods of Vermont and New York in 1937 and the New England hurricane of 1938. During blizzards of 1936-37 in Utah, 1,000,000 sheep were stranded and in danger of starvation. CCC enrollees braved the drifts and saved the flocks.
Few records were kept of the sociological impact of the 1930s on the nation’s young men. Many had never been beyond the borders of their state, and others had not even left home. Yet, many would never return. They would choose to remain in towns and villages near their camps. They married, raised families and put down their roots, much as had other young men in the migratory movements of past years. Those who did return, many with brides, came back as successful products of an experiment in living that had renewed and stored their confidence in themselves and in their country.
The Civilian Conservation Corps approached maturity in 1937. Hundreds of enrollees had passed through the system and returned home to boast of their experiences, while hundreds more demonstrated their satisfaction by extending their enlistments. Life in the camps had settled down to almost a routine, with work the order of the day, every day, except Sunday. But, after the evening meal the camps came to life as well over a hundred men relaxed and had fun. One building in every camp was a combined dayroom, recreation center and canteen, or PX. In this building, amid the din of Ping-Pong, poker, innumerable bottles of “coke”, and occasional beers, were fostered friendships that exist to this day. This, then, was the Civilian Conservation Corps that FDR tried to make permanent in April, 1937.
From the CCC Brief History, Civilian Conservation Corps Legacy
It’s About Time For “New Rules”
February 5, 2009 at 11:08 am | Posted in Economy, Historical, Obama!, politics straight up | Leave a commentTags: Democrats, Economy, Federal Theater Project, hilda solis, NEA, New Deal, Obama!, pitchfork, Republicans, WPA
The Federal Theatre Div. of W.P.A. presents "Ten Minute Alibi" by Anthony Armstrong, a startling mystery in 3 acts, at the Waterloo Theater, 1936 or 1937.
Excerpt from remarks by President Obama, February 4, 2009:
As part of the reforms we’re announcing today, top executives at firms receiving extraordinary help from U.S. taxpayers will have their compensation capped at $500,000 — a fraction of the salaries that have been reported recently. And if these executives receive any additional compensation, it will come in the form of stock that can’t be paid up until taxpayers are paid back for their assistance.
Companies receiving federal aid are going to have to disclose publicly all the perks and luxuries bestowed upon senior executives, and provide an explanation to the taxpayers and to shareholders as to why these expenses are justified. And we’re putting a stop to these kinds of massive severance packages we’ve all read about with disgust; we’re taking the air out of golden parachutes.
It’s about time that some of the people directly responsible for the economic disaster you and I have to live with get their hands slapped out of the cookie jar.
The President’s statement does not go far enough, in my opinion. The union busting that is going on is unconscionable. The postponement of confirmation of Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor is part of the effort by Republicans to screw the working person. That Senate Democrats are not fighting harder against this speaks volumes about their commitment to the working person. (See also this.)
The other day, in her short interview of President Obama, Katie Couric was sneering at the idea that a portion of the stimulus funds would go to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). In addition to employing out-of-work actors, the New Deal’s “Federal Theatre Project companies covered a number of sections of the country where dramatic productions were infrequently seen,” enriching the lives of thousands of Americans.
We are still reaping the benefits of the New Deal. With the outlawing of child labor, implementation of a minimum wage and protecting the right of workers to organize — things we now take for granted — creation of the Works Project Administration and other New Deal agencies, average Americans were provided opportunities to feed not just their bodies but to feed their minds.
Why do Republicans want you to eat thin gruel while the top one percent of Americans take more and more of our country?
Spring is not too far off. Perhaps you should consider purchasing a pitchfork. Perhaps you can use it to encourage what Chicher suggests.
(Cross-posted at FromLaurelStreet)
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