Tackling Unemployment: The Legislative Dynamics of the Unemployment Act of 1946 - Softcover

Ruth Ellen Wasem

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0880994525 ISBN 13: 9780880994521

Publisher: W E Upjohn Inst for, 2013

Synopsis

Ruth Ellen Wasem presents a study of the legislative dynamics and contexts of the 1946 Employment Act. She examines the bill not as a singular proposal, but as a package of legislative proposals offered as a comprehensive strategy for full employment. She explores four central elements of the bill: the Federal government's responsibility to ensure full employment when the private sector couldn't, the apparatus for doing this, national economic planning, and the strength of the government's commitment. Several appendices present data, profiles of support for senate and representative bills, and methodology. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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Review

'Tackling Unemployment' provides valuable background for the establishment of twenty-first century employment policy. It is a well-written and cogent corrective for some common misconceptions about the forces transforming the Full Employment bill of 1945 into the Employment Act of 1946, as well as for advocates tendency to underestimate the importance of legislation that, in their view, is less than perfect. --Ray Marshall, Professor Emeritus and holder of the Audre and Bernard Rapoport Centennial Chair in Economics and Public Affairs, University of Texas; former Secretary of Labor

Wasem's important work succeeds in reminding us of a time when full employment was a legitimate and worthy policy goal. In doing so, the author employs a mix of legislative historical analysis along with the use of a multivariate analysis of historical economic and public opinion data. The combination provides the contemporary reader with a rare and nuanced look at the politics of public policy without the limitations of standard institutional analysis. This book is a must read for students of employment policy, and a terrific guide for policymakers looking to understand standard challenges to putting people back to work. --Roland V. Anglin, Director and Associate Research Professor, Joseph C. Cornwall Center, for Metropolitan Studies, Rutgers University

'Tackling Unemployment' is a masterful analysis of the Employment Act of 1946, when the U.S. government assumed responsibility for managing the economy in order to provide maximum employment for Americans. The act created both the congressional Joint Economic Committee and the president s Council of Economic Advisers to monitor the economy and suggest policies for economic and job growth. Tackling Unemployment shows that the act was groundbreaking legislation, giving the U.S. government both the mandate and the tools to intervene in the economy to alleviate recessions and unemployment. --Philip Martin, Professor, Comparative Immigration and Integration Program, University of California Davis

Edition details

• Publisher: W E Upjohn Inst for
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0880994525
• ISBN 13: 9780880994521
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 241