Modern Liberalism

designed to help American farmers by stabilizing prices and limiting overproduction

• 1890

• The act was passed, requiring the U.S. federal government to pursue companies and organizations suspected of limiting competition (monopolizing) in a particular industry.

• 1902

• Effort by United Mine Workers to get higher wages, shorter hours + recognition of union

• Roosevelt summoned representatives of both sides to White House meeting

• Results

  • 10% wage increase, workdays from 10 -> 9 hours

  • owners got higher price for coal + did not recognized trade union as bargaining agent 

  • First labour dispute where US gov intervened as neutral arbitrator 

• Roosevelt described his actions as trying to secure a “square deal” for both sides

Canada’s National Bank, a crown corporation that functions similarly to the Federal Reserve Bank by maintaining monetary policies and economic systems.

A common practice during the Great Depression, when many clients withdraw their money from a bank because they believe it will soon fail.

describe a pronounced economic downturn

a pronounced upswing or boom in the economy

public works program, operated under control of the army, which was designed to promote environmental conservation

created temporary manual labour jobs for those unemployed by the Great Depression

• 1914

• defining unethical business practices (like price fixing and monopolies) while making unions and agricultural organizations exempt from it.

A corporation made of several individual businesses.re

an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity and recognized as such in law for certain purposes

reduction of government control

A share of profits that a company pays out to its shareholders (those invested in its stock) and owners.

a series of severe dust storms from 1930-36 throughout America and Canada

a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months.

• 1903

• prohibits railroad companies from giving rebates to businesses that ship large quantities of goods and giving power to those businesses to artificially lower shipping prices.

• began in 1945 as Canada’s first universal welfare program

• a monthly government payment to families with children to help cover the costs of child maintenance

gave insurance to those depositing funds in banks

A central banking system of the United States, intended to maintain some government control of banking and to alleviate financial crises, but was often subject to corruption by the influence of big businesses and millionaires.

• 1933

• separated commercial and investment banking, restoring the restriction on banks trading in stock

• 1929-1941

• a severe global economic downturn that affected many countries across the world

• 1906

• expanded the ability of the government to set and regulate railroad shipping rates

With unemployment rates rising under Hoover’s presidency, groups of homeless dwellings were called _______.

believing that the government should interfere with the affairs of other countries–foreign policy

A job or assignment that serves no legitimate purpose other than to give the one employed a role to fill

An economy that has both public and private industries and companies in its marketplace

the exclusive possession or control of the supply of or trade in a commodity or service

• Franklin D. Roosevelt

• 1. The first new deal (1933-1935)

  • Characterized by relief of immediate problems of employment

• 2. The second new deal (1935-1937)

  • Characterized by reform

  • Members of congress + others called for fundamental reform of society -> not just relief symptoms of social + economic problems

  • Despite election of Republican administrations in 1950s, New deal largely left intact

  • 1960s: Lyndon B Johnson’s Great Society took New Deal policies even further

  • After 1974: laissez-faire views great in support -> calling for deregulation of economy + ending New Deal regulation of transportation, banking + communications in 1970s-1980s

• Several new deal programs remain active -> some still operating under original names

  • FDIC, FCIC, FHA, TVA, SSC and SEC

• 1937

• was a Quebec law that allowed officers to close off property suspected of being meeting places for communists

The government is run by the wealthiest members of society

• a political attitude favoring or advocating changes or reform through governmental action

• often viewed in opposition to conservative ideologies

• 1920s movement in US associated with Theodore Roosevelt

• reacted to perceived abuses of laissez-faire capitalism by large corps

• favored “a square deal” for average citizens

• used legislation + regulation of marketplace to achieve this

Aligning with the Roaring 20s, it was a period during the 1920s where the manufacture, transport, and sale of alcohol was banned

Community or government-financed financial aid to families based on need (or certain conditions)

created new or updated public infrastructure, which also provided employment.

Temporary economic decline where the value of money falls.

a rule or directive made and maintained by an authority

assistance, especially in the form of food, clothing, or money, given to those in special need or difficulty

After Prohibition backfired, the economic boom of the 20s (largely due to abuse of the stock market) was paired with a boom in speakeasies, parties, and a cultural revolution.

a disapproving term used for a powerful
19th-century U.S. businessman and banker.  The term may now relate to any businessman or banker who used questionable business practices to become powerful or wealthy.

A slang term for a strikebreaker, someone who works during a strike

was created to enforce the law against market manipulation.

• Originally passed into law in 1890

• Requires US federal gov to pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of working to limit competition in a particular industry/sector of economy

• Forms basis for most antitrust litigation by US federal gov today

• Political leaders unwilling to refer to law until Theodore Roosevelt presidency (1901-1909)

• 1911: William Howard Taft + supreme court forced standard oil company to break up into 34 independent companies

• Used to prevent some organized labor activities -> weakening unions (although this was not original intent)

  • 1914 Clayton Act fixed this issue 

• Reforms limited classical liberal freedoms + principles of marketplace

  • Reforms prevented certain powerful entities in society from abusing rights + freedoms of less influential individuals

commonly used term for the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program and is administered by the Social Security Administration

Government programs that provided assistance outside of the market, through personal, social, and emotional well being

Theodore Roosevelt's domestic program, which reflected his three major goals: conservation of natural resources, corporate law, and consumer protection. These three demands are often referred to as the "three C's"

Exchanges of stock, a fractional share of a corporation’s worth, in a gambling-esc setting to gain profit (or lose money to debts) as a company’s worth rises or falls after buying a share… like a meta-market. The market of the market

a share in the ownership of a company

A company totally owned and controlled by another, often larger company.

A benefit given to an individual or business by the government: it can be direct through payments or indirect through tax breaks.

ambitious + controversial new Deal project -> massive dam/hydroelectric project to bring power to rural area in seven states

a range of government programs designed for individuals and families who do not make enough money to have a decent standard of living

The conservative Canadian Prime Minister during the early 1930s: set up largely inadequate relief camps and make-work projects during the Great Depression and dispersed left-wing protesters, but wasn’t, like, evil

• First job in US: factory worker in bobbin factory

• Later: became bill logger for owner of company

• Then became messenger boy

• Eventually: progressed up ranks of telegraph company

• Built Pittsburgh Carnegie Steel Company, later merged with Elbert H Gary’s Federal Steel Company + several small companies to create US Steel

• Used money to retire + turn to philanthropy

  • Built Carnegie Hall + supported thousands of public libraries + universities

• 1872 - 1933

• 30th president from 1923-1929; conservative (republican), was vice president under Harding before succeeding him.

  • Opposed unions, cut taxes imposed during WWI that would contribute to the boom but subsequent crash of the stock market, starting the Great Depression. 

  • (1924) The Immigration Act cut the amount of immigrants allowed into the U.S., favoring immigrants from Northern Europe over all else. 

  • (1927-28) Shot down farm relief bills where the government would buy crops to support farms, as Coolidge believed it wasn't the government's place.

• Founded HC Frick + Company coke manufacturing company 

• Chairman of Carnegie Steel Company

• Played major role in formation of giant US steel manufacturing concern

• Financed construction of railroads + owned extensive real estate in Pittsburgh + Pennsylvania

• Known as “most hated man in America”

• Voted one of “worst american CEOs of all time”

• Hated by public + historians for lack of morality + ruthlessness in business

• 1865 - 1923

• 29th president from 1921-1923; the start of an explicitly conservative (republican) line of presidents.

  • Ranked as one of the worst American presidents in history.

  • Favored pro-business government policies–stopping antitrust actions, and opposed organized labor.

  • Harding rewarded friends and political contributors with financially powerful positions.

  • Rejected the League of Nations, signing his own treaties and urging U.S. international participation.

• 1892

• A strike from employees at Carnegie Steel Company and the company itself that erupted into a violent dispute.

  • It ultimately failed, as although they defeated private enforcers, the jobs of the workers were filled by replacements who wouldn’t strike.

  • Many of the workers in the union faced legal charges for their actions.

• 1874 - 1964

• 31st president from 1929-1933; conservative (republican). 

  • Achieved prominence in humanitarian efforts in WW1, was the Secretary of Commerce throughout the 1920s. 

• Promoted partnerships between government and business for the goal of "economic modernization".

  • Believed that a federal bureaucracy should have limited regulation over the economy, but that too much intervention would undermine long term self-reliance.

• These ideals and the economy were put to the test with the onset of the Great Depression and its consistent worsening.

  • Hoover engaged in many public works programs, including an increase in the Federal Buildings program of over $400 million

  • Established the Division of Public Construction, granted more subsidies to ship construction through the Federal Shipping Board, and asked for a further $175 million to spur public works planning.

  • (1930) Spent $915 million on public works, including the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River.

• With unemployment rates rising under Hoover’s presidency, groups of homeless dwellings were called Hoovervilles.

• After Franklin D. Roosevelt, the following president, introduced the New Deal, he was a vocal opponent to it.

• The Minister of Trade and Commerce of Canada from the 40s-50s, who was also the minister of many other departments. He established crown corporations, reformed existing corporations, and aided unemployment, overall helping Canada economically expand as a mixed economy.

• 1883 - 1946

• Born in 1883 in England to an upper class family; a British economist whose ideas have profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics and policies of governments. 

  • During the Treaty of Versailles negotiations, Keynes attempted to prevent Germany's reparation payments being set so high as it would hurt not just Germany's own people and economy, but the world. 

• Lead a revolution of economic thinking, altering the traditional ideas of laissez-faire economics.

  • Argued that demand determined the ultimate level of economic activity, and that inadequate demand leads to long periods of unemployment. 

  • “Keynesian economics” argues that private sector decisions sometimes lead to inefficient economic outcomes.

  • Advocates a mixed economy—predominantly private, but with a large participation of the public sector–to mitigate harmful effects of economic recessions.

  • Advocates for active policy responses by the public sector, including monetary actions by central banks and government policies to stabilize output over the business cycle.

• Used the term Bear Market to describe a pronounced economic downturn, and Bull Market for a pronounced upswing or boom in the economy. 

• Keynesian economics served as the economic model during the later part of the Great Depression, World War II, and post-war expansion until the 70s.

A liberal Prime Minister both before and after Bennett who got the government much more involved in maintaining the economy by creating many social programs.

• Modestly successful in farming implement business before Civil War

• Formed partnership with Samuel Andrew to develop cheaper means to refining crude oil

• Company: standard oil

• Negotiated exclusive deal with railway company -> guaranteed 60 car loads a day in return for lower transportation costs

  • Increased sales dramatically + eventually monopolized oil refining in lots of the US

• 1882 - 1945

• 32nd president from 1933-1945, won the election with 57.4% of the vote.

  • Born to a wealthy New York family, fifth cousin to Theodroe Roosevelt; became a lawyer through Harvard but was paralyzed from the waist down in 1921.

• Took a strong stand on public power, planning to reduce expenses and balance the budget; he culled his policies from what would win him the most political favour.

• In his first hundred days in office, he launched major legislation and executive orders that formed the New Deal: a set of programs designed to produce relief for the unemployed, economic recovery, and reform/regulation of Wall Street, banks and transportation.

• (1933-35) The first set of New Deal legislation relieved the immediate affects of unemployment.

  • The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the most popular of New Deal agencies, hired 250,000 unemployed young men to work on rural projects.

  • The Banking (or Glass-Steagall) Act (1933) separated commercial and investment banking, restoring the restriction on banks trading in stock.

  • It also established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FIDC) which gave insurance to those depositing funds in banks.

  • The Civil Works Administration (CWA) created temporary manual labour jobs for those unemployed by the Great Depression.

  • The Public Works Administration (PWA) created new or updated public infrastructure, which also provided employment.

  • The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) helped American farmers by stabilizing prices and limiting overproduction.

  • Created the largest government-owned industrial enterprise in American history, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which built dams and power stations, controlled floods, and modernized agriculture in poverty-stricken Tennessee Valley.

  • Other measures included the Works Progress Administration (WPA) which set up a national relief agency that employed two million family heads.

  • The NIRA (National Industrial Recovery Act) stimulated production and competition by having American industries set up a series of codes designed to regulate prices, output, and general trade practices.

• (1935-37) The second set of New Deal legislation was characterized by reform, where members of Congress and others called for fundamental reform of society, not just relief of the symptoms of social and economic problems. 

  • Social Security Act, which promised economic security for the elderly, the poor and the sick.

  • The National Labor Relations Act, which established the federal rights of workers to organize unions, to engage in collective bargaining, and to take part in strikes.

• Failures of banks during the Depression, states declared “bank holidays,” or the stopping of bank activity; FDR closed all banks in a “National Bank Holiday” to be inspected–many weren’t, but when the banks reopened, the public was more trusting and made the banks able to pay their debts.

• The New Deal was left largely intact until the mid-seventies, but some programs still remain active in the U.S. today.

• 1858 - 1919

• Roosevelt was a wealthy but often unhealthy child, and he attended Harvard, led a small regiment in the Spanish-American war, and later became governor and then Vice President after returning to New York.

• 26th President from 1901-1909, and was a strong supporter of working people. 

  • (1902) United Mine Workers went on strike, and he set up a fact-finding group to stop the strike by giving workers better pay and benefits.

  • (1903) Introduced the Elkins Act, an amendment to the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, which imposed heavy fines on railroad companies that offered rebates and on shippers that accepted them.

  • (1906) Passed the Hepburn Act, which expanded the ability of the government to set and regulate railroad shipping rates.

• For his aggressive attacks on trusts over his two terms–a plan coined as his “Square Deal”–he was called a "trust-buster."

• (1906) Passed progressive legislation like The Meat Inspection Act and The Pure Food and Drug Act to protect consumers. 

  • The Meat Inspection Act banned misleading labels and preservatives that contained harmful chemicals. 

  • The Pure Food and Drug Act banned food and drugs that are impure or falsely labeled from being made, sold, and shipped.

• He also established the Panama Canal during his presidency, an artificial canal to make a quick trade route from the East coast to the West

• wrote The Jungle to expose awful working conditions in the meat-packing industry, which led to new federal food safety laws

was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It began in September, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) collapsed, and ended in mid-November.

• 1857 - 1930

• 27th president from 1909-1913; vice president during Theodore Roosevelt’s run.

• On the conservative end of modern liberalism, a republican, but still publicly pursued anti-trust initiatives.

  • (1911) he used the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to force the Standard Oil Company to break up into 34 smaller, independent companies.

  • Launched 90 antitrust actions, including one against U.S. Steel despite the fact that the merger had been previously approved by Roosevelt. 

• Taft also emphasized expansion of the civil service, strengthening the Interstate Commerce Commission, and improving the performance of the postal service.

  • Sought to further the economic development of underdeveloped nations in Latin America and Asia through American financial assistance while the economy was growing enough to be an international force.