Unit 7: Economics (The Great Depression and Great Society)

economics

branch of knowledge concerned with the production, consumption, and transfer of wealth.

Great Depression (1929-39)

was the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the United States. It began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors.

Roaring 20's

It was a period of sustained economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the United States

The flapper

fashionable young woman intent on enjoying herself and flouting conventional standards of behavior.

The Double Standard

a code of morals that applies more severe standards of sexual behavior to women than to men

Prohibition

prevention by law of the manufacture and sale of alcohol between 1920 and 1933.

Consumerism

the belief/action that it is good for people to spend a lot of money on goods and services

Materialism

a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than a person's values.

Ku Klux Klan

an American post-Civil War secret society advocating white supremacy

Welfare

Government-provided support for those unable to support themselves. In the United States, it is undertaken by various federal, state, and local agencies

Causes of the Great Depression

Overproduction, Stock Market Crash/Buying on Margin, Restrictive Tariffs, Gap between the rich and poor, Buying on Credit, Weak Banking, High Unemployment

Prosperity

financial success

Tariff

tax or duty to be paid on a particular class of imports or exports. During this time, the US put high tariffs on foreign products in order to get Americans to buy American-made goods.

Shanty

small, poorly built house

Bull Market

a market in which share prices are rising, encouraging buying in the stock market.

Buying on Margin

the purchase of an asset/stock by paying the a small portion as a down payment and borrowing the balance from a bank or broker.

Black Tuesday

On October 29, 1929, share prices on the New York Stock Exchange completely collapsed, becoming a pivotal factor in the emergence of the Great Depression.

The Dust Bowl

an area of land where vegetation has been lost and soil reduced to dust and eroded, especially as a consequence of drought or unsuitable farming practice. Oklahoma, Kansas, and northern Texas are affected by this severe soil erosion.

President Hoover

President during the Great Depression and was not reelected in 1932.

Unemployment

not having a job

Communism

political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

Socialist

Some who advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Liberal

A person who believes the government should be responsible

Moderate

In politics and religion, an individual who is not extreme, partisan, nor radical.

Conservative

A person who believes that businesses and community groups should be responsible instead of the government

Fascism

authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization that is headed by a dictator in which the government controls business and labor and opposition is not permitted

The New Deal

A group of government programs and policies established under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s; it was designed to improve conditions for persons suffering in the Great Depression.

FDR

President of the United States from 1933 to 1945. The only president to be elected to 4 consecutive terms.

Emergency Banking Relief Act

an act passed by the United States Congress in 1933 in an attempt to stabilize the banking system.

Glass-Steagall Act (FDIC)

passed by Congress in 1933 and prohibits commercial banks from engaging in the investment business.

Federal Securities Act (SEC)

first major federal legislation to regulate the offer and sale of securities

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

United States federal law of the New Deal era which reduced agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies not to plant on part of their land and to kill off excess livestock. Its purpose was to reduce crop surplus and therefore effectively raise the value of crops.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)

public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families as part of the New Deal.

Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)

Its main goal was to alleviate household unemployment by creating new unskilled jobs in local and state government.

National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA)

law passed by the United States Congress in 1933 to authorize the President to regulate industry in an attempt to raise prices after severe deflation and stimulate economic recovery.

Federal Housing Administration (FHA)

created as part of the National Housing Act of 1934. It sets standards for construction and underwriting and insures loans made by banks and other private lenders for home building.

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development to the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected by the Great Depression.

National Youth Administration

a New Deal agency in the United States that focused on providing work and education for Americans between the ages of 16 and 25. It operated from June 26, 1935 to 1939 as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Social Security Act

An act to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old-age benefits, and by enabling the several States to make more adequate provision for aged persons, blind persons, dependent and crippled children, maternal and child welfare, public health, and the administration of their unemployment compensation laws; to establish a Social Security Board; to raise revenue; and for other purposes.

Tax Reduction Act

a bipartisan tax cut bill signed by President Lyndon Johnson on February 26, 1964. Individual income tax rates were cut across the board by approximately 20%. In addition to individual income tax cuts, the act slightly reduced corporate tax rates and introduced a minimum standard deduction.

Department of Housing and Urban Development

it was founded as a Cabinet department in 1965, as part of the "Great Society" program of President Lyndon Johnson, to develop and execute policies on housing and metropolises.

Higher Education Act (1965)

legislation signed into United States law as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society domestic agenda. The law was intended "to strengthen the educational resources of our colleges and universities and to provide financial assistance for students in postsecondary and higher education". It increased federal money given to universities, created scholarships, gave low-interest loans for students, and established a National Teachers Corps.

Clean Air Act

United States federal law designed to control air pollution on a national level. It is one of the United States' first and most influential modern environmental laws, and one of the most comprehensive air quality laws in the world.

Truth in Packaging Act

requiring that all "consumer commodities" be labeled to disclose net contents, identity of commodity, and name and place of business of the product's manufacturer, packer, or distributor. The Act authorizes additional regulations where necessary to prevent consumer deception (or to facilitate value comparisons) with respect to descriptions of ingredients, slack fill of packages, use of "cents-off" or lower price labeling, or characterization of package sizes.

Highway Safety Act (1966)

enacted to empower the federal government to set and administer new safety standards for motor vehicles and road traffic safety

Great Society

a set of domestic programs in the United States launched by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964-65. The main goal was the elimination of poverty and racial injustice.

Goals of the New Deal

Relief, recovery and reform

Supreme Court Packing

FDR's controversial plan to expand the Supreme Court to as many as 15 judges in order to make the job "less overwhelming" to the older judges.

Successes of the New Deal

Created jobs, transformed the way the American government worked, Government took greater responsibility for ensuring economic prosperity for all Americans

Failures of the New Deal

Goals were never met, failed to raise the impoverished, failed to redistribute income, failed to extend equality, created more problems than solved, too much government regulation, only provided temporary jobs