History 479B

Devine

Fall 2012

 

Wells, American Capitalism, 1945-2000, Introduction, Chapter 1

 

  1. How did liberals and conservatives differ in their views of the source of wealth? To what extent were their views incompatible?

 

 

  1. What were the New Dealers’ basic assumptions about the US economy?  How did the experience World War II cast doubt on these assumptions?

 

 

  1. According to Wells, “Traditionally economists had believed that the volume of savings determined investment.”  Why did Keynes disagree?  Why did he argue that the reverse was true – investment determines the volume of savings?

 

 

  1. How did liberals and conservatives differ in their views on investment in the economy?

 

 

  1. After World War II, what steps did national leaders take to avoid the international economic instability that had occurred after World War I?

 

 

  1. How did the system of labor relations change in the US after World War II?  What were the benefits and drawbacks for labor and for the entire country?

 

 

  1. What problems did the Marshall Plan propose to solve? What positive effects did it produce?  Did it have any negative effects?

 

 

  1. Why does a nation’s devaluing its currency make its exports cheaper and its imports more expensive?

 

 

  1. In what ways did the interests of prosperous nations diverge from those of developing nations?  For example, why did prosperous nations prefer an open, international economy and free trade while developing nations wanted protection from imports and foreign investment?

 

 

  1. What role did the federal government and certain key industries play in fueling the economic boom of the 1950s?

 

 

  1. What overall effect did military spending have on the economy during the 1950s?

 

 

  1. What steps did American businesses and farmers take to improve productivity?  What were the social consequences – positive and negative – that resulted from such efforts?

 

 

  1. Why did President Truman’s attempts to extend the economic reform policies of the New Deal garner little support after World War II?  What economic policies did the Truman Administration pursue more successfully?

 

 

  1. What impact did the Korean War have on the U.S. economy?

 

 

  1. How did Eisenhower’s economic policies differ from Truman’s?  How did his policies reflect the conservative view of the source of wealth and the need for stability of prices?

 

 

 

Oakley, “Good Times: The American Economy in the Fifties”

 

  1. What developments in the economy during the 1950s caused people, including many economists, to speak of the new “people’s capitalism” or a “new era of capitalism”?  What distinguished the US economy of the ‘50s from that of the ‘30s?

 

 

  1. What were some of the causes of ‘50s prosperity?

 

 

  1. How did the expansion of the advertising industry and the expansion of easy access to credit during the ‘50s reflect the shift from a production economy to a consumption economy?

 

 

  1. What were some of the major transformations in the US economy during the 1950s?

 

 

  1. What was the social impact of the growth of large conglomerates?  How did the emerging dominance of these giant corporations change people’s everyday lives?

 

 

  1. How did the economic boom of the ‘50s affect organized labor?  How did the government’s role in mediating employer-employee disputes change after World War II?

 

 

  1. How did the agricultural sector of the economy fare in the 1950s?  In your view, was there more change or continuity from the 1930s?

 

 

  1. If you were looking to make money in the 1950s, what kinds of career paths seemed the most promising? Why?

 

 

  1. With regard to its effect on the economy and on everyday life, how was the interstate highway system of the 1950s similar to the railroad system of the 1880s? How was it different?  In what ways were rail and road transport similar?  How did they differ?

 

 

  1. Why might “poverty in the midst of plenty” be an apt phrase to describe the social situation in the US during the 1950s?  Why was persistent poverty not a widespread concern during the 1950s?

 

 

  1.  To what extent should great disparities of wealth be of concern when the majority of the population feels that times are good?