Barry Eichengreen
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195101133
- eISBN:
- 9780199869626
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195101138.003.0004
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
The chapter covers the postwar boom and slump, which provided a first indication of how radically the environment had changed since before World War I, although contemporaries did not appreciate its ...
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The chapter covers the postwar boom and slump, which provided a first indication of how radically the environment had changed since before World War I, although contemporaries did not appreciate its lessons adequately. The different sections of the chapter look at the transition to generalized floating of exchange rates, the postwar boom and the postwar slump (1919–1921), and the aftermath of these.Less
The chapter covers the postwar boom and slump, which provided a first indication of how radically the environment had changed since before World War I, although contemporaries did not appreciate its lessons adequately. The different sections of the chapter look at the transition to generalized floating of exchange rates, the postwar boom and the postwar slump (1919–1921), and the aftermath of these.
Daniel J Clark
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780252042010
- eISBN:
- 9780252050756
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042010.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
It is conventional wisdom that because of lucrative contracts negotiated by the United Auto Workers (UAW) under Walter Reuther's leadership, most autoworkers in the U.S. enjoyed steady work, ...
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It is conventional wisdom that because of lucrative contracts negotiated by the United Auto Workers (UAW) under Walter Reuther's leadership, most autoworkers in the U.S. enjoyed steady work, increasing wages, and improved benefits in the postwar boom following World War II. In short, autoworkers entered the middle class. In contrast, this book argues that for Detroit autoworkers there was no postwar boom. Instead, the years from 1945 to 1960 were dominated by job instability and economic insecurity. This argument is based largely on oral history interviews and research in local newspapers, which covered the auto industry extensively. Conditions were worse for African Americans and white women, but almost all autoworkers experienced precarious, often dire circumstances. Recessions, automation, decentralization, and the collapse of independent automakers in Detroit are part of the story, but materials shortages, steel, coal, and copper strikes, parts supplier strikes, wildcat strikes, overproduction (especially in 1955), hot weather, cold weather, plant explosions, age, race, and gender workplace discrimination, and the inability of autoworkers to afford new cars contributed to instability and insecurity. Hardly anyone in the 1950s—whether ordinary autoworkers, union leaders, auto company executives, business analysts, or local shopkeepers—thought that the decade was marked by steady work, improving wages, or anything resembling predictable income for autoworkers.Less
It is conventional wisdom that because of lucrative contracts negotiated by the United Auto Workers (UAW) under Walter Reuther's leadership, most autoworkers in the U.S. enjoyed steady work, increasing wages, and improved benefits in the postwar boom following World War II. In short, autoworkers entered the middle class. In contrast, this book argues that for Detroit autoworkers there was no postwar boom. Instead, the years from 1945 to 1960 were dominated by job instability and economic insecurity. This argument is based largely on oral history interviews and research in local newspapers, which covered the auto industry extensively. Conditions were worse for African Americans and white women, but almost all autoworkers experienced precarious, often dire circumstances. Recessions, automation, decentralization, and the collapse of independent automakers in Detroit are part of the story, but materials shortages, steel, coal, and copper strikes, parts supplier strikes, wildcat strikes, overproduction (especially in 1955), hot weather, cold weather, plant explosions, age, race, and gender workplace discrimination, and the inability of autoworkers to afford new cars contributed to instability and insecurity. Hardly anyone in the 1950s—whether ordinary autoworkers, union leaders, auto company executives, business analysts, or local shopkeepers—thought that the decade was marked by steady work, improving wages, or anything resembling predictable income for autoworkers.
Daniel J. Clark
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780252042010
- eISBN:
- 9780252050756
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042010.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
The introduction assesses the historiography of U.S. autoworkers and the United Auto Workers (UAW) in the post-WWII era, explains the methodology, especially the use of oral history and local ...
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The introduction assesses the historiography of U.S. autoworkers and the United Auto Workers (UAW) in the post-WWII era, explains the methodology, especially the use of oral history and local newspapers as sources, and previews the argument that ordinary autoworkers in Detroit experienced the years from 1945-60 as an era of instability and insecurity, not as a postwar boom. This argument runs counter to most of the historical literature about the period.Less
The introduction assesses the historiography of U.S. autoworkers and the United Auto Workers (UAW) in the post-WWII era, explains the methodology, especially the use of oral history and local newspapers as sources, and previews the argument that ordinary autoworkers in Detroit experienced the years from 1945-60 as an era of instability and insecurity, not as a postwar boom. This argument runs counter to most of the historical literature about the period.
Daniel J. Clark
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780252042010
- eISBN:
- 9780252050756
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042010.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
After earning the nickname "The Arsenal of Democracy" during WWII, Detroit’s auto plants experienced production disruptions during postwar reconversion to civilian production. This meant significant ...
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After earning the nickname "The Arsenal of Democracy" during WWII, Detroit’s auto plants experienced production disruptions during postwar reconversion to civilian production. This meant significant layoffs, especially for women autoworkers. Shortages of crucial materials, often caused by steel strikes and coal strikes, made auto employment sporadic. Authorized strikes in the auto industry, including the 1946 GM strike called by Walter Reuther, and unauthorized "wildcat" strikes, all contributed to ongoing instability. Cold weather, hot weather, and federal credit regulations played roles as well. As a result, autoworkers experienced persistent layoffs even though auto companies managed to earn profits during the early postwar years. By late 1948, no one in the industry thought that the postwar boom had arrived.Less
After earning the nickname "The Arsenal of Democracy" during WWII, Detroit’s auto plants experienced production disruptions during postwar reconversion to civilian production. This meant significant layoffs, especially for women autoworkers. Shortages of crucial materials, often caused by steel strikes and coal strikes, made auto employment sporadic. Authorized strikes in the auto industry, including the 1946 GM strike called by Walter Reuther, and unauthorized "wildcat" strikes, all contributed to ongoing instability. Cold weather, hot weather, and federal credit regulations played roles as well. As a result, autoworkers experienced persistent layoffs even though auto companies managed to earn profits during the early postwar years. By late 1948, no one in the industry thought that the postwar boom had arrived.
Daniel J. Clark
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780252042010
- eISBN:
- 9780252050756
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042010.003.0011
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
Job instability and economic insecurity dominated the experiences of Detroit autoworkers during the first fifteen years of the postwar boom, its supposed heyday. Moreover, there was no consistent ...
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Job instability and economic insecurity dominated the experiences of Detroit autoworkers during the first fifteen years of the postwar boom, its supposed heyday. Moreover, there was no consistent body of people who could be classified as autoworkers during these years. Tens of thousands of people periodically entered and left auto work, with the timing often not of their own choosing. It is not clear to what extent these workers, especially the emerging majority of younger ones, considered themselves to be primarily autoworkers at all. The myth of the postwar boom for autoworkers persists for many reasons, including over-reliance on aggregate economic data and nostalgia for a time when Detroit was more prosperous and the UAW had a degree of power and influence.Less
Job instability and economic insecurity dominated the experiences of Detroit autoworkers during the first fifteen years of the postwar boom, its supposed heyday. Moreover, there was no consistent body of people who could be classified as autoworkers during these years. Tens of thousands of people periodically entered and left auto work, with the timing often not of their own choosing. It is not clear to what extent these workers, especially the emerging majority of younger ones, considered themselves to be primarily autoworkers at all. The myth of the postwar boom for autoworkers persists for many reasons, including over-reliance on aggregate economic data and nostalgia for a time when Detroit was more prosperous and the UAW had a degree of power and influence.
Daniel J. Clark
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780252042010
- eISBN:
- 9780252050756
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042010.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
The upsurge in auto production near the end of the Korean War continued well into the New Year, which surpassed mid-1950 as the best approximation of a postwar boom. The end of government wartime ...
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The upsurge in auto production near the end of the Korean War continued well into the New Year, which surpassed mid-1950 as the best approximation of a postwar boom. The end of government wartime controls on industrial materials created free market conditions that automakers had long coveted, and Detroit auto plants experienced an acute labor shortage in early 1953. Tens of thousands of migrants from outside Michigan headed to Detroit for auto jobs. Even during the boom, however, black men, all women, and middle-aged applicants experienced employment discrimination. By the end of 1953, autoworkers again found themselves in precarious circumstances as the auto market slackened and layoffs increased.Less
The upsurge in auto production near the end of the Korean War continued well into the New Year, which surpassed mid-1950 as the best approximation of a postwar boom. The end of government wartime controls on industrial materials created free market conditions that automakers had long coveted, and Detroit auto plants experienced an acute labor shortage in early 1953. Tens of thousands of migrants from outside Michigan headed to Detroit for auto jobs. Even during the boom, however, black men, all women, and middle-aged applicants experienced employment discrimination. By the end of 1953, autoworkers again found themselves in precarious circumstances as the auto market slackened and layoffs increased.
Daniel J. Clark
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780252042010
- eISBN:
- 9780252050756
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042010.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
The 1950 GM-UAW contract, called "The Treaty of Detroit" by Fortune magazine, dominates accounts of postwar U.S. labor history because it seemed to ensure steady employment, increasing wages, and ...
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The 1950 GM-UAW contract, called "The Treaty of Detroit" by Fortune magazine, dominates accounts of postwar U.S. labor history because it seemed to ensure steady employment, increasing wages, and improved benefits, like pensions, for autoworkers. But the Treaty of Detroit and comparable contracts with Chrysler and Ford were efforts to achieve some semblance of stability and predictability in a volatile industry, not the confirmation and continued promise of the postwar boom. The contracts were signed after a year of national recession, marked by intensifying competition in the auto industry, with production speedups and strikes, new efforts at automation (the replacement of jobs with machinery), national coal and steel strikes, and chronic layoffs for autoworkers. The Korean War led to further instability.Less
The 1950 GM-UAW contract, called "The Treaty of Detroit" by Fortune magazine, dominates accounts of postwar U.S. labor history because it seemed to ensure steady employment, increasing wages, and improved benefits, like pensions, for autoworkers. But the Treaty of Detroit and comparable contracts with Chrysler and Ford were efforts to achieve some semblance of stability and predictability in a volatile industry, not the confirmation and continued promise of the postwar boom. The contracts were signed after a year of national recession, marked by intensifying competition in the auto industry, with production speedups and strikes, new efforts at automation (the replacement of jobs with machinery), national coal and steel strikes, and chronic layoffs for autoworkers. The Korean War led to further instability.
Joseph Wong
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801450327
- eISBN:
- 9780801463372
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801450327.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Asian Politics
After World War II, several late-developing countries registered astonishingly high growth rates under strong state direction, making use of smart investment strategies, turnkey factories, and ...
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After World War II, several late-developing countries registered astonishingly high growth rates under strong state direction, making use of smart investment strategies, turnkey factories, and reverse-engineering, and taking advantage of the postwar global economic boom. Among these economic miracles were postwar Japan and, in the 1960s and 1970s, the so-called Asian Tigers—Singapore, Korea, and Taiwan—whose experiences epitomized the analytic category of the “developmental state.” This book examines the emerging biotechnology sector in each of these three industrial dynamos. They have invested billions of dollars in the biotech industry since the 1990s, but commercial blockbusters and commensurate profits have not followed. Industrial upgrading at the cutting edge of technological innovation is vastly different from the dynamics of earlier practices in established industries. The profound uncertainties of life-science-based industries such as biotech have forced these nations to confront a new logic of industry development, one in which past strategies of picking and making winners have given way to a new strategy of throwing resources at what remain very long shots. The book illuminates a new political economy of industrial technology innovation in places where one would reasonably expect tremendous potential—yet where billion-dollar bets in biotech continue to teeter on the brink of spectacular failure.Less
After World War II, several late-developing countries registered astonishingly high growth rates under strong state direction, making use of smart investment strategies, turnkey factories, and reverse-engineering, and taking advantage of the postwar global economic boom. Among these economic miracles were postwar Japan and, in the 1960s and 1970s, the so-called Asian Tigers—Singapore, Korea, and Taiwan—whose experiences epitomized the analytic category of the “developmental state.” This book examines the emerging biotechnology sector in each of these three industrial dynamos. They have invested billions of dollars in the biotech industry since the 1990s, but commercial blockbusters and commensurate profits have not followed. Industrial upgrading at the cutting edge of technological innovation is vastly different from the dynamics of earlier practices in established industries. The profound uncertainties of life-science-based industries such as biotech have forced these nations to confront a new logic of industry development, one in which past strategies of picking and making winners have given way to a new strategy of throwing resources at what remain very long shots. The book illuminates a new political economy of industrial technology innovation in places where one would reasonably expect tremendous potential—yet where billion-dollar bets in biotech continue to teeter on the brink of spectacular failure.
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226143781
- eISBN:
- 9780226143804
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226143804.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter discusses the decline and fall of skid rows. During the postwar economic boom, when the family-wage system enjoyed greater authority than it ever had before or ever would again, skid row ...
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This chapter discusses the decline and fall of skid rows. During the postwar economic boom, when the family-wage system enjoyed greater authority than it ever had before or ever would again, skid row seemed to represent a strange exception to the general rule of mobility. With Americans moving upward into the middle class and outward to the suburbs, the men of skid row appeared to be stagnating. Skid row men elicited pity during the Cold War era, but they also evoked disgust and not a little fear. Skid row homelessness represented a blatant affront to the nuclear family ideal, an ideal which held such extreme sway in postwar culture that the few who deviated from it escaped without sanction. Far from being an isolated ghetto, skid row hosted men of various racial, ethnic, and age groups and saw a great deal of interaction with surrounding black, Latino, and other working-class neighborhoods.Less
This chapter discusses the decline and fall of skid rows. During the postwar economic boom, when the family-wage system enjoyed greater authority than it ever had before or ever would again, skid row seemed to represent a strange exception to the general rule of mobility. With Americans moving upward into the middle class and outward to the suburbs, the men of skid row appeared to be stagnating. Skid row men elicited pity during the Cold War era, but they also evoked disgust and not a little fear. Skid row homelessness represented a blatant affront to the nuclear family ideal, an ideal which held such extreme sway in postwar culture that the few who deviated from it escaped without sanction. Far from being an isolated ghetto, skid row hosted men of various racial, ethnic, and age groups and saw a great deal of interaction with surrounding black, Latino, and other working-class neighborhoods.
Daniel J. Clark
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780252042010
- eISBN:
- 9780252050756
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042010.003.0010
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
Despite the official end of the 1958 recession, massive unemployment persisted for Detroit's autoworkers amidst huge disruptions in production. Safety nets had long since frayed. Most autoworkers ...
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Despite the official end of the 1958 recession, massive unemployment persisted for Detroit's autoworkers amidst huge disruptions in production. Safety nets had long since frayed. Most autoworkers exhausted their unemployment benefits and few alternate employment options existed. Unemployed Detroiters lined up wherever there were job openings, no matter the type of work. Ford and GM, however, earned healthy profits, despite shutdowns caused by a national steel strike. The only bright spot in the industry, nationwide, was the trend toward fuel-efficient, compact cars. In mid-1960 the U.S. Department of Labor declared Detroit to be in the "worst-off" category among metropolitan areas. By the end of 1960, auto work remained precarious in the Motor City, and the postwar boom remained elusive.Less
Despite the official end of the 1958 recession, massive unemployment persisted for Detroit's autoworkers amidst huge disruptions in production. Safety nets had long since frayed. Most autoworkers exhausted their unemployment benefits and few alternate employment options existed. Unemployed Detroiters lined up wherever there were job openings, no matter the type of work. Ford and GM, however, earned healthy profits, despite shutdowns caused by a national steel strike. The only bright spot in the industry, nationwide, was the trend toward fuel-efficient, compact cars. In mid-1960 the U.S. Department of Labor declared Detroit to be in the "worst-off" category among metropolitan areas. By the end of 1960, auto work remained precarious in the Motor City, and the postwar boom remained elusive.
Matthew Chambers, Carlos Garriga, and Don E. Schlagenhauf
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780226073842
- eISBN:
- 9780226093284
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226093284.003.0012
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
After the collapse of housing markets during the Great Depression, the U.S. government played a large role in shaping the future of housing finance and policy. Soon thereafter, housing markets ...
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After the collapse of housing markets during the Great Depression, the U.S. government played a large role in shaping the future of housing finance and policy. Soon thereafter, housing markets witnessed the largest boom in recent history. The objective in this chapter is to quantify the contribution of government interventions in housing markets in the expansion of U.S. homeownership using an equilibrium model of tenure choice. In the model, home buyers have access to a menu of mortgage choices to finance the acquisition of a house. The government also provides special programs through provisions of the tax code. The parameterized model is consistent with key aggregate and distributional features observed in the 1940 U.S. economy and is capable of accounting for the boom in homeownership in 1960. The decomposition suggests that government policies have had significant importance. For example, the expansion in maturity of the fixed-rate mortgage to 30 years can account for 12 percent of the increase.Less
After the collapse of housing markets during the Great Depression, the U.S. government played a large role in shaping the future of housing finance and policy. Soon thereafter, housing markets witnessed the largest boom in recent history. The objective in this chapter is to quantify the contribution of government interventions in housing markets in the expansion of U.S. homeownership using an equilibrium model of tenure choice. In the model, home buyers have access to a menu of mortgage choices to finance the acquisition of a house. The government also provides special programs through provisions of the tax code. The parameterized model is consistent with key aggregate and distributional features observed in the 1940 U.S. economy and is capable of accounting for the boom in homeownership in 1960. The decomposition suggests that government policies have had significant importance. For example, the expansion in maturity of the fixed-rate mortgage to 30 years can account for 12 percent of the increase.
Michael V. Metz
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780252042416
- eISBN:
- 9780252051258
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042416.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
Another East Coast man, President Henry, unlike Stoddard, excelled at building and maintaining good relations with trustees and legislators. In today’s terms, he effectively managed up, not so much ...
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Another East Coast man, President Henry, unlike Stoddard, excelled at building and maintaining good relations with trustees and legislators. In today’s terms, he effectively managed up, not so much down, rarely interacting with or even being seen by students, while managing an extensive expansion of the school’s budget, enrollment, physical plant, and campuses. Students considered him an invisible man, while his superiors and peers valued him as a superb manager, if not a charismatic leader.Less
Another East Coast man, President Henry, unlike Stoddard, excelled at building and maintaining good relations with trustees and legislators. In today’s terms, he effectively managed up, not so much down, rarely interacting with or even being seen by students, while managing an extensive expansion of the school’s budget, enrollment, physical plant, and campuses. Students considered him an invisible man, while his superiors and peers valued him as a superb manager, if not a charismatic leader.
