History
479B
Devine
Fall
2012
Robert
M. Collins, “Growth Liberalism in the Sixties”
- What were
the basic tenets of “stagnationism”? Why was this theory discredited?
- What
happened to government’s role in the economy after World War II? What priorities did government
pursue? What methods did it employ
to achieve these priorities?
- How and
why did the issue of economic growth become wrapped up in the Cold War
competition with the Soviet Union and with the 1960 presidential campaign?
- What were
the three major lines of the “Keynes-cum-growth” economic policy? (see p.
18 ff) How did this policy differ markedly from New Deal economic policy?
- How did
the success of “Keynes-cum-growth” policies affect the national mood? How
did this economic success and unbounded optimism become a double-edged
sword?
- How did
Eisenhower and Kennedy differ with regard to funding NASA and the defense
budget?
- How did
the “growth revolution” set the stage for U.S.
intervention in Vietnam?
(see p. 21 ff) What is the problem
with emphasizing “usable power”?
- In what
three ways did economic growth play a role in Johnson’s domestic program?
- Why did
Johnson oppose fighting poverty by redistributing income (taxing the rich
and giving the revenue to the poor)?
Why did he want to “change” the poor rather than just enrich them?
- Why were some growth liberals ambivalent
or uncertain about simply producing “more”? What other things did they believe were
necessary to create a “great society”?
- What does
Collins mean when he says, “The desire of liberals to use economic growth
to transcend economic growth was as noble as it was chimerical”? (see p.
28)
- Why wouldn’t Johnson raise taxes even though
he realized that economic chaos would result if he didn’t raise them?
- What does Collins mean when he says, “In
truth, the decision to halt the escalation of the [Vietnam]
war was as much economic as it was political or military”? (see p. 34)
- Why did
Johnson’s “guns-and-butter” policy destroy his presidency, and, arguably,
discredit liberalism more broadly?