Comparison
of Events
The problems in the left column are revealed
in the Hoover administration, but they were caused by economic events and
decisions before his administration and beyond his administration.
* +
(date) = Alteration in this law Blue =
occurring in the 1st 100 days of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New
Deal
Problems
Revealed in Hoover’s Administration |
Solutions
Attempted in FDR’s New Deal |
Protecting freedom of information |
FCC (Federal Communications Act)[1]*(1980s) (1990s) |
Bankers – embezzling funds and speculating
in stock market |
Initially, Congress in special session >
this combination:
FDIC[2] *(1980s)
Taxpayers insured depositors’ money
if a bank complied with rules – such as firewall between depositors’ money and banks’
speculation (1990s)
[3] |
Gold Standard |
US off gold standard |
Stock Market -
Insider trading -
Margin buying -
Fraud -
Sales to the public of stock but no required disclosure [4] |
Regulation of stock market (problems listed
in left column) -initially under the FTC (the Federal Trade Commission
established under Wilson’s presidency), but these responsibilities later went
to the SEC(1990s)
[5] |
Business Not Producing –
Businesses are hurting –
Workers are hurting (Scroll down for
growing pressures from 1934, especially with the shift to union organization
by industries.) –
Market saturated |
NRA[6] Later declared unconstitutional right to organize and
standards for minimum pay/maximum hours. –
used symbol blue eagle in store
windows –
gave workers right to organize
(Later covered in the Wagner Act and its National Labor Relations Board[7]) –
set up standards & codes for
business (Later covered in the Fair Labor Standards Act[8]) PWA[9]
–
public
works, such as Boulder Dam –
used steel, concrete |
Mortgage –
home –
farm |
Refinancing of both home and farms with
varied programs, including 1934 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that
insured loans |
People on the edge –
young –
old (Scroll down for growing
pressures after 1934) –
blacks –
Okies |
Varied solutions: –
CCC[10] – Boys/conservation projects Later,
programs like the NYA[11]
–
FERA[12] – “made work” Later WPA[13] – labor & build libraries and schools |
Farmers –
market saturation –
farmers are hurting –
farm labor is hurting (25% of work
force) |
AAA[15] -
After Supreme Court actions, soil
conservation –
Parity to restore price of prior
times –
Paying not to grow/plus plow under
initially –
Helps big farmers most, with tenants
and sharecroppers being the ones whose land the big farmers took out of
production –
60% income up TVA[16] –
conservation and electric power – Results in factory jobs and displacement of
some people |
1.
Pressures from John L. Lewis’s development of the CIO (Congress of Industrial
Unions) and a split from the old American Federation of Labor, pressures in
1937 from industries (see Ford, Republic Steel) and the CIO’s sit-down strike
2.
From 1934 to the act creating Social Security (pension for old, aid for widows
and orphans, unemployment insurance), pressures from left and right – Father
Coughlin (Radio Priest), Dr. Frances Townsend, and Huey Long (Louisiana
governor and later senator - nicknamed the “King Fish”)
3. Pressures from the Supreme Court: The Court had declared
NRA and parts of AAA unconstitutional. FDR planned an increase in Supreme Court
justices (disliked by Americans). The Court, however, backed off. Both the
Wagner Act and Social Security were not
declared unconstitutional.
Copyright C. J. Bibus,
Ed.D. 2003-2013 |
WCJC
Department: |
History
– Dr. Bibus |
Contact
Information: |
281.239.1577
or bibusc@wcjc.edu |
Last
Updated: |
2013 |
WCJC
Home: |
[1] Your textbook covers Calvin Coolidge’s support for regulation of the radio (Chapter 23 in “Coolidge in the White House), but does not cover any more. These two items from the 1920s provides background for the FCC (Federal Communications Act) in the 1930s.
§ In
1922, the Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover had conferences (with industry +
regions) in Washington and subsequently regulated who used what part of the
airwaves.
§ In
1927, Congress passed the Radio Act specifying that the airwaves belonged to
the United States (not the broadcasters) and requiring broadcasters to do such
things as act in the public interest and show no favoritism for political
candidates.
Source of the two bullets:
page 958 and 959 of the Encyclopedia of
American History (7th edition) by Morris and Morris.
[2] FDIC -
Abbreviation for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
[3] When discussed in news programs, this is frequently referred to by the legislation—the Glass-Steagall Act—creating the FDIC and the rules that banks had to follow, such as that firewall (also called the “Chinese wall”—if the bank was FDIC insured and therefore the U.S. taxpayers (you) reimbursed depositors if a bank failed.
[4] Public offering (stock sold to the
public) regulated only by the private
stock market that did not require accuracy and disclosure of information.
[5] SEC - Abbreviation for Securities and Exchange Commission
[6] NRA -
Abbreviation for National Recovery Administration - The Supreme Court later
declared this act unconstitutional, with Congress responding by creating the
National Labor Relations Board (below) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (below)
[7] The NRA
had included “labor union rights.” (This and all phrases about the NRA and Wagner
Act are from your textbook.)
With the Supreme Court decision and the NRA gone, the Wagner Act (or National
Labor Relations Act) dealt with “the rights of workers to organize and bargain
collectively.” It sets up a National Labor Relations Board whose purpose
included to “supervise union elections” and to act if employers followed
“unfair labor practices.”
[8] The NRA
had included standards for minimum pay and maximum hours.
With the NRA gone, in 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act providing
for minimum pay and maximum hours (40 per week).\
[9] PWA - Abbreviation for Public Works Administration (Public works = term used for taxpayer-owned resources such as water, electricity) – Programs hired both whites and blacks and also built in black areas (not just white)\
[10] CCC -
Abbreviation for Civilian Conservation Corps|
[11] NYA -
Abbreviation for National Youth Administration, including the Office of Negro
Affairs, under Mary McLeod Bethune
[12] FERA -
Abbreviation for Federal Emergency Relief
Administration (relief = term used
for immediate issues such as food, shelter)
[13] WPA -
Abbreviation for Works Progress Administration
- Jobs and relief to both whites and blacks
[14] Funding
- payroll tax jointly on employer and employee; discussed then as insurance
[15] AAA -
Abbreviation for Agricultural
Adjustment Act
[16] TVA - Abbreviation for Tennessee Valley Authority