US History Chapter 6

Office of Price Administration

-was established within theOffice for Emergency Management of the United States government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. The functions of the OPA were originally to control money (price controls) and rents after the outbreak of World War II. - It became an independent agency under the Emergency Price Control Act, January 30, 1942. The OPA had the power to place ceilings on all prices except agricultural commodities, and to ration scarce supplies of other items, including tires, automobiles, shoes, nylon, sugar, gasoline, fuel oil, coffee, meats and processed foods. At the peak, almost 90% of retail food prices were frozen. It could also authorize subsidies for production of some of those commodities. - The OPA was abolished effective May 29, 1947, by the General Liquidation Order issued March 14, 1947, by the OPA Administrator. Some of its functions were taken up by successor agencies:

Progressive Movement

was an effort to cure the ills of society that developed during the huge industrial growth in the late 19th century. Not all citizens shared in the new wealth, prestige and optimism of the time. -The Progressive Movement had strong political overtones and did not have the church as the driving force of the change. - Progressive Movement wanted to remove corruption and influence from government, wanted to include more people directly in the political process, and believed that government must play a role to solve social problems and establish fairness in economic matters. -The Muckrakers helped make the movement successful by detailing the horrors of poverty, urban slums, dangerous labor conditions and child labor.

Social Security Act

- An act to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old-age benefits, and by enabling the several States to make more adequate provision for aged persons, blind persons, dependent and crippled children, maternal and child welfare, public health, and the administration of their unemployment compensation laws; to establish a Social Security Board; to raise revenue; and for other purposes. - Second New Deal was the Social Security Act, signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 14, 1935. The act laid the groundwork for the modern welfare state in the United States with its primary focus to provide aid for the elderly, the unemployed, and children. - Over time the SSA was amended to give money to states to provide assistance to aged individuals (Title I), for unemployment insurance (Title III), Aid to Families with Dependent Children (Title IV), Maternal and Child Welfare (Title V), public health services (Title VI), and the blind (Title X).[3]

Supply-side Economics

- economic growth can be most effectively created by investing in capital and by lowering barriers on the production of goods and services. Started during Reagan Administration. - According to supply-side economics, consumers will then benefit from a greater supply of goods and services at lower prices; furthermore, the investment and expansion of businesses will increase the demand for employees and therefore create jobs. - The Laffer Curve is the idea that lowering tax rates may generate more government revenue.

GI Bill

-The G. I. Bill of Rights or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 provided for college or vocational education for returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as GIs or G. I.s) as well as one-year of unemployment compensation. It also provided loans for returning veterans to buy homes and start businesses. - A government legislation designed to solve the problem of what the 15 million soldiers would do once they got back home. It allowed all servicemen to have free college education once they returned from the war, and it created the Veterans' Administration allowing them to take out loans.

FDR's Three R's

- Relief: Immediate action taken to halt the economies deterioration. Had Bank Holiday and Emergency Banking Act to stop panic and close insolvent banks with new ones. - Recovery: Restart the flow of consumer demand. Has the Works Progress Administration and Agricultural Adjustmet Act(AAA) to build jobs and give money to farmers for not making food to decrease supply. - Reform: Insure citizens against economic disaster. They had the Security & Exchange Commission(SEC) to monitor stock market activity and the Wagner Act to help workers and labor law.

"Robber Barons"

- The term robber refers to criminal and baron refers to aristocrats who have no legitimate role in a republic. Term robber comes from a German lord who charged peasants a toll to use his road and got rich while providing any added value. -It was used to characterize unethical business practices of Vanderbilt. It refers largely to the monopolists who crushed competitors, rigged markets and prices and corrupted governments. It was used to describe big businessmen in America. The term became more popular during the Great Depression where American big business obtained huge fortunes immorally, unethically, and unjustly.

Henry Ford

- Wanted to produce a new kind of car, a car for the masses rather than the rich the market for automobiles up to the point. - Was designed to be both rugged, to handle the often ghastly roads then in existence. - Its initial price was $850, a fraction of what most automobiles cost then, and its running expenses were equally modes, by some estimates only a penny a mile. They bought 10,607 Model T's that year. - I 1913 he fully introduced the assembly line at a new plat built for its purpose - That year it only took ninety-three minutes to assemble the Model T, and in 1916, it's price dropped to $360. - The automobile allowed the rural consumer to shop farther afield. Before the vehicle, what wasn't available at the local grocery store had to be ordered from catalogs. - The automobile also put a far greater stress on the country's rural economy as a whole.

Tennessee Valley Aurthority

- a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter on May 18, 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development to the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected by the Great Depression. The enterprise was a result of the efforts of Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska. TVA was envisioned not only as a provider, but also as a regional economic development agency that would use federal experts and electricity to rapidly modernize the region's economy and society. - T.V.A.'s service area covers most of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small slices of Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. It was the first large regional planning agency of the federal government and remains the largest. - Even by Depression standards, the Tennessee Valley was economically dismal in 1933. Thirty percent of the population was affected by malaria, and the average income was only $639 per year, with some families surviving on as little as $100 per year. Much of the land had been farmed too hard for too long, eroding and depleting the soil. Crop yields had fallen along with farm incomes. The best timber had been cut, with another 10% of forests being burnt each year.

AAA(The Agricultural Adjustment Act)

- federal law of the New Deal era which reduced agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies not to plant on part of their land and to kill off excess livestock. Its purpose was to reduce crop surplus and therefore effectively raise the value of crops. - "The goal of the Agricultural Adjustment Act, restoring farm purchasing power of agricultural commodities or the fair exchange value of a commodity based upon price relative to the prewar 1909-14 level, was to be accomplished through a number of methods. These included the authorization by the Secretary of Agriculture (1) to secure voluntary reduction of the acreage in basic crops through agreements with producers and use of direct payments for participation in acreage control programs; (2) to regulate marketing through voluntary agreements with processors, associations or producers, and other handlers of agricultural commodities or products; (3) to license processors, association, and others handling agricultural commodities to eliminate unfair practices or charges; (4) to determine the necessity for and the rate or processing taxes; and (5) to use the proceeds of taxes and appropriate funds for the cost of adjustment operations, for the expansion of markets, and for the removal or agricultural surpluses." - In 1935, the income generated by farms was 50 percent higher than it was in 1932, which was partly due to farm programs such as the AAA.

1996 Telecom Act

- is the first major overhaul of telecommunications law in almost 62 years. The goal of this new law is to let anyone enter any communications business -- to let any communications business compete in any market against any other - One of the most controversial titles was Title 3 ("Cable Services"), which allowed for media cross-ownership.[1]According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the goal of the law was to "let anyone enter any communications business -- to let any communications business compete in any market against any other."[2] The legislation's primary goal was deregulation of the converging broadcasting and telecommunications markets.[3]However, the law's regulatory policies have been questioned, including the effects of dualistic re-regulation of the communications market

16th Amendment

-Constitution allows the Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states or basing it on the United States Census. - Until 1913, customs duties (tariffs) and excise taxes were the primary sources of federal revenue.[3] During the War of 1812, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander J. Dallas made the first public proposal for an income tax, but it was never implemented.[4] The Congress did introduce an income tax to fund the Civil War through the Revenue Act of 1861.[5] It levied a flat tax of three percent on annual income above $800. This act was replaced the following year with the Revenue Act of 1862, which levied a graduated tax of three to five percent on income above $600 and specified a termination of income taxation in 1866. - Before Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., all income taxes had been considered to be indirect taxes imposed without respect to geography, unlike direct taxes, that have to be apportioned among the states according to population

Great Society

-Johnson designed the "Great Society" legislation by upholding civil rights, public broadcasting, Medicare, Medicaid, aid to education, the arts, urban and rural development, public services, and his "War on Poverty". Assisted in part by a growing economy, the War on Poverty helped millions of Americans rise above the poverty line during his administration.[2] Civil rights bills that he signed into law banned racial discrimination in public facilities, interstate commerce, the workplace, and housing; the Voting Rights Act prohibited certain requirements in southern states used to disenfranchise African Americans. With the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, the country's immigration system was reformed and all racial origin quotas were removed. - set of domestic programs in the United States launched by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964-65. The main goal was the elimination of poverty and racial injustice. - New major spending programs that addressed education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, and transportation were launched during this period. The program and its initiatives were subsequently promoted by him and fellow Democrats in Congress in the 1960s and years following. The Great Society in scope and sweep resembled the New Deal domestic agenda of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Medicare

-On November 19, 1945, seven months into his presidency, Truman sent a message to Congress, calling for creation of a national health insurance fund, open to all Americans.The plan Truman envisioned would provide health coverage to individuals, paying for such typical expenses as doctor visits, hospital visits, laboratory services, dental care and nursing services. Although Truman fought to get a bill passed during his term, he was unsuccessful and it was another 20 years before some form of national health insurance - Medicare for Americans 65 and older, rather than earlier proposals to cover qualifying Americans of all ages - would become a reality. - President John F. Kennedy made his own unsuccessful push for a national health care program for seniors after a national study showed that 56 percent of Americans over the age of 65 were not covered by health insurance. But it wasn't until after 1965 - after legislation was signed by President Lyndon B Johnson - that Americans started receiving Medicare health coverage when Medicare's hospital and medical insurance benefits launched for the following 12 months. - Today, Medicare continues to provide health care for those in need. By 2015, there were 55.5 million people receiving health coverage through a Medicare program, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Benefits paid in 2013 amounted to $583, which was about 14 percent of the federal budget. The retirement wave of Baby Boomers was once expected to cause Medicare to become a budget buster, but the Congressional Budget Office is now projecting increases in spending to be much smaller than once thought, thanks in major part to cost savings under Part A that were part of Obamacare.

Business Trust

-Originally, the corporate trust was a legal device used to consolidate power in large American corporate enterprises.[1] In January 1882, Samuel C. T. Dodd, Standard Oil's General Solicitor, conceived of the corporate trust to help John D. Rockefeller consolidate his control over the many acquisitions of Standard Oil, which was already the largest corporation in the world.[1] The Standard Oil Trust was formed pursuant to a "trust agreement" in which the individual shareholders of many separate corporations agreed to convey their shares to the trust; it ended up entirely owning 14 corporations and also exercised majority control over 26 others.[1] Nine individuals held trust certificates and acted as the trust's board of trustees.[1] One of those trustees was Rockefeller himself, who held 41% of the trust certificates; the next most powerful trustee held only about 12%.[1]This kind of arrangement became popular and soon had many imitators - Although the "corporate trusts" were initially created to improve the organization of large businesses, they soon faced widespread accusations of abusing their market power to engage in anticompetitive business practices. This caused the term "trust" to become strongly associated with such practices among the American public and led to the enactment of the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890, the first federal competition statute. - Meanwhile, "trust agreements", the legal instruments used to create the corporate trusts, received a hostile reception in state courts during the 1880s and were quickly phased out in the 1890s in favor of other clever devices like holding companies for maintaining corporate control.[1] For example, the Standard Oil Trust terminated its own trust agreement in March 1892.[1] Regardless, the name stuck, and American competition laws are known today as antitrust laws (or anti-trust laws) as a result of the historical public aversion to trusts, while other countries use the term "competition laws" instead. - In 1898, President William McKinley launched the "trust-busting" era when he appointed the U.S. Industrial Commission. The report of the Commission was seized upon by Theodore Roosevelt, who based much of his presidency on "trust-busting".

Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare)

-The Affordable Care Act was designed to increase health insurance quality and affordability, lower the uninsured rate by expanding insurance coverage and reduce the costs of healthcare. It introduced mechanisms including mandates, subsidies and insurance exchanges. The law requires insurers to accept all applicants, cover a specific list of conditions and charge the same rates regardless of pre-existing conditions or sex - The ACA has caused a significant reduction in the number and percentage of people without health insurance, with estimates ranging from 20-24 million additional persons covered during 2016.[4][5] Increases in overall healthcare spending have slowed since the law was implemented, including premiums for employer-based insurance plans.[6] The Congressional Budget Office reported in several studies that the ACA would reduce the budget deficit, and that repealing it would increase the deficit. - The law and its implementation faced challenges in Congress and federal courts, and from some state governments, conservative advocacy groups, labor unions, and small business organizations. The United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the ACA's individual mandate as an exercise of Congress's taxing power, found that states cannot be forced to participate in the ACA's Medicaid expansion, and found that the law's subsidies to help individuals pay for health insurance are available in all states, not just in those that have set up state exchanges. - If you don't buy you must pay a penalty.

Levittown

-name of seven large suburban developments created in the United States of America by William Levitt and his company Levitt & Sons. - Built after World War II for returning veterans and their new families (though limited to those of "the Caucasian race", as stipulated in housing rent and sales agreements), the communities offered attractive alternatives to cramped central city locations and apartments. -He and other builders were guaranteed by the Veterans Administration and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that qualified veterans could receive housing for a fraction of rental costs. -Production was modeled in an assembly line manner and thousands of similar or identical homes were produced easily and quickly, allowing rapid recovery of costs

Stagflation

-persistent high inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand in a country's economy. - From 1958 to 1973, the United States experienced what's known as the "Post-War Boom." Gross annual products in Western nations grew by an average of 5 percent annually, fueling a slow but steady rise in prices - In the 1960s, the Fed believed that the inverse relationship between unemployment and inflation was stable. The Fed decided to use its monetary policy to increase overall demand for goods and services and keep unemployment low. - Unfortunately, they got it wrong. The result of unnaturally low unemployment in the 1960s was something called a wage-price spiral. The government poured money into the economy to increase demand, making prices rose. Workers, noting the rise in prices (inflation), expected their wages to rise accordingly.

17th Amendment

-was proposed by Congress in 1912 and adopted in 1913. It established the popular election of Senators by the people. Each State should have two Senators regardless of the size of the State. Each senate will be comprised of two Senators, elected by the people for a term of six years. -This was part of the Connecticut Compromise between the small and the large states. This contrasted with the House of Representatives which is elected by popular vote. - At the time the Constitution was giving the federal government more power and the election of the senators by the States reassured Anti-federalists that there would be some protection against the swallowing up of states and their powers by the federal government. It provided a check on the power of the federal government.

Great Depression

1929-1939. -Deepest longest lasting economic downturn in history of western industrialized world. In the US, it began after the great stock market crash in Oct 1929 which wiped out millions of investors. Next, consumer spending and investment dropped causing a decrease in industry output and increasing unemployment as failing companies laid people off. By 1933, 13 to 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half the US's banks had failed. President Roosevelts reliefs and reforms lessened the effects but it wasn't until after 1939 when WWII kicked American industry into high gear.

Welfare Reform

Providing welfare benefits has been controversial throughout U.S.history. Since the colonial period, government welfare policy hasreflected the belief that the indigent are responsible for their poverty,leading to the principle that governmental benefits are a privilege andnot a right. Until the Great Depression of the 1930s, state and localgovernments bore some responsibility for providing assistance to thepoor. Generally, such assistance was minimal at best, with churchand volunteer agencies providing the bulk of any aid. :The New Deal policies of President FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT includednew federal initiatives to help those in poverty. With millions of peopleunemployed during the 1930s economic depression, welfareassistance was beyond the financial resources of the states.Therefore, the federal government provided funds either directly torecipients or to the states for maintaining a minimum standard ofliving. - Following the 1930s, federal programs were established that providedadditional welfare benefits, including medical care (Medicaid), publichousing, food stamps, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Bythe 1960s, however, criticism began to grow that these programs hadcreated a "culture of dependency," which discouraged people fromleaving the welfare rolls and finding employment. Defenders of publicwelfare benefits acknowledged that the system was imperfect, notingthe financial disincentives associated with taking a lowpaying job andlosing the array of benefits, especially medical care. They alsopointed out that millions of children are the prime beneficiaries ofwelfare assistance, and that removing adults from welfare affectsthese children.

Scopes Trial

State of Tennessee v. John Scopes or aka the Scopes Monkey Trail in 1925. -Scopes was a substitute high school teacher that was accused of teaching human evolution in a state funded school. Both the state and Scopes had famous big name lawyers and was a highly publicized trial. -It was the Fundamentalist-Modern Controversy that set Modernists against Fundamentalists. Modernists believed that evolution was inconsistent with religion and the Fundamentalists said the word of God in the Bible took priority over all human knowledge. Society was trying to decide whether modern science should be taught in schools.

Baby Boom

demographic group born post-WWII between 1946 and 1964. They have no memory of the war and it's effects. Baby boomers are generally associated with a redefinition of traditional values. In North America and Europe, boomers are associated with privilege because many grew up in a time of government subsidies in post-war housing, education and increasing affluence. As a group, baby boomers were the wealthiest, most active and physically fit generation up until there time. They truly believed the world would improve in time. They achieved peak levels of income so everyone was able to have plenty of anything they wanted. There are two levels of baby boomers; those born post WWII and those born during the Vietnam war era. -Afetr the war because a bunch of men were coming back

MucKrackers

is a collective group of reports at the turn of the century that exposed injustices so grave they made the blood of the average American run cold. - The print revolution enabled publications to reach far more people and subscriptions increased dramatically. What was in print now became more powerful than ever. Lincoln Steffens was the first reports to publish an article in St. Louis about how city officials worked with big business to maintain power while corrupting the public treasure. He published so many more articles that he compiled them in a book called 'The Shame of the Cities.' Soon there was public outcry demanding the reform of city government and gave strength to the progressive ideas of a city commission or manager system. - Soon another writer exposed the history of the standard oil company and the cutthroat business practices of John Rockefeller. (her own father was driven out of business by Rockefeller). Soon articles were also written about the inner workings of the stock market, child labor, the meatpacking industry's abuse of their workers. Meatpacking industry was also packaging spoiled meat, using skin, hair, ears, and nose were also ground up and sold. This turned President Roosevelt's stomach so much that Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act.

Rock and Roll

is a genre of music that originated in the 1940's and 1950's. Elements of rock and roll can be heard in country music, blues, the genre of rock and roll didn't acquire it's name until the 1950's. Early, the piano or saxophone were the lead instruments which were later replaced or added to with the guitar in the 1950's. The rhythm and blues beat was accentuated with a back beat or addition of a snare drum. Classic rock usually has a lead guitar, a rhythm, a double or string bass, an electric guitar and a drum kit. Rock and Roll not only influenced music but also lifestyles, fashion and language. Rock and roll arrived at a time of big technological change; electric guitar, microphones, amplifiers, the record and radio stations playing the music.

New Deal

is a series of programs enacted in the US btw 1933 and 1938. The programs were in response to the Great Depression and focused on the 3-R's; Relief, Recovery, and Reform. Relief to the unemployed and poor, recovery of the economy to normal levels and Reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression. - It made the Democratic party the majority with it's liberal ideas, the South, traditional Democrats, big city machines and new powerful labor unions and ethnic majorities. - The Republicans were split; some thinking it would be bad for business and growth and other accepting it. First New Deal dealt with Emergency Banking Act, 1933 Banking Act, Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Civil Works Administration and the Securities Act of 1933. - The Second New Deal dealt with the Wagner Act protecting labor organizing, Works Progress Administartion (making Federal gov't the largest employer in the nation), Social Security Act, United States Housing Authority and the Farm Security Administration, the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Vertical ntegration

occurs when a business expands its control over other business that is part of it's overall manufacturing process. An ex is an oil refining business being vertically integrated if it owned or controlled pipeline companies, railroads, barrel manufacturers, etc. Essentially the supply chain of the company is owned by the company. Usually each member produces a different product or service that all satisfy a common need. This type of integration promotes financial growth and efficiency in their business. This is difficult to implement and can be costly to fix if not done right. - A company can be backward vertically integrated when it controls the subsidiaries that supply some of the inputs of it's products like a car manufacturer can own it's own tire company, glass company and steel company. Ex. Ford. A company is forward integrated when it controls its distribution centers and retailers where its products are sold.

2008 Great Recession

period of economic decline in world markets in late 2000's and early 2010's. The international monetary fund said it was the worst global recession since WWII. -Different countries were affected differently. The Great Recession was related to the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the US subprime mortgage crisis of 2007-2009. It lasted over 18 months. The years before there were huge rises in prices of assets. Many securities that were sold were backed by subprime mortgages that collapsed when the US housing bubble burst and homeowners began to default on their mortgage payments. -Many large banks faced huge losses or bankruptcy which resulted in massive public financial assistance known as government bailouts. There was also a drop in international trade and rising unemployment.

Sun Belt

region of the US spreading from the Southeast to the Southwest or the region south of the 36th parallel. - It is defined by the warm climate, longer summers and brief mild winters. It is an area that saw a huge population growth since the 1960's from people seeking a warmer, sunnier climate; baby boomers and growing economic opportunity in the area. - The warmer climate, Mexican immigrants and a boom in the agricultural industry allowed the southern third of the states to grow economically. - The invention of the Air Conditioner also made it easier to deal with the summertime heat. More recently, the area is having water shortages, droughts and drug trafficking near the Mexican borders are all problems of the Southwest. It includes states such as Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, Texas.

Globalization

the expression globalization received stardom during the 1990's and was embraced by the general public as a way to explain today's world. But globalization didn't start in modern times but is more of an evolution. It can be dated back to the silk trade between China and the Mediterranean region, the shipping routes through Arabian Peninsula and India and the caravan routs of the Near East and North Africa. All this was a way to move people, goods, money, artwork and ideas. -Another important phase of globalization was during the industrial revolution which made it easier to move more to farther places in a shorter time and less costly. Now during the 21st century, global destruction through nuclear war and ecological catastrophe is a reality. Globalization is part of a long running transformation.

Square Deal

was President Rossevelt's domestic program. It is referred to as the three 'C's' because it deals with the conservation of natural resources, control of corporations, and consumer protection. -It aimed to protect the middle class, protect against a society ruled by a few wealthy people and big companies from maintaining such a market share that there is no competitive pricing and provided protection to businesses from extreme demands of organized labor. - In 1903 the Elkins Act was passed; railroads were not allowed to give rebates to favored railroad companies he wanted fair access by all companies. - Meat also had to be processed safely with proper sanitation and food and drugs had to be properly labelled so that the consumers were not mislead. It also conserved wilderness because he believed nature benefitted everyone. -