History 479B

Devine

Fall 2012

 

Robert M. Collins, “Growth Liberalism in the Sixties”

 

  1. What were the basic tenets of “stagnationism”?  Why was this theory discredited?

 

 

  1. 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?

 

 

  1. 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?

 

 

  1. 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?

 

 

  1. 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?

 

 

  1. How did Eisenhower and Kennedy differ with regard to funding NASA and the defense budget?

 

 

  1. 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”?

 

 

  1. In what three ways did economic growth play a role in Johnson’s domestic program?

 

 

  1. 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?

 

 

  1.  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”?

 

 

  1. 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)

 

 

  1.  Why wouldn’t Johnson raise taxes even though he realized that economic chaos would result if he didn’t raise them?

 

 

  1.  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)

 

 

  1. Why did Johnson’s “guns-and-butter” policy destroy his presidency, and, arguably, discredit liberalism more broadly?