Progressivism and Economic Reforms in the USA

Roosevelt's Progressivism

• Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), US President, introduced reforms to prevent large companies like Standard Oil (Rockefeller) from controlling the market.
• Elkins Act (1903) and Hepburn Act (1906) aimed to stop railroads from favoring certain customers (like Standard Oil).

Taft and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act

• William Howard Taft (1909-1913) continued Roosevelt's work by breaking up trusts (large corporations).
• The Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890) was designed to prevent monopolies and collusion between competing companies within an industry.
• Taft used the Sherman Act to force Standard Oil to break into 34 smaller companies.
• The Clayton Act (1914) exempted labor unions and agricultural organizations from the Sherman Act's restrictions on boycotts, strikes, picketing, and collective bargaining (as long as peaceful).

The Roaring Twenties

• The USA prioritized economic prosperity and distanced itself from global political issues (isolationism).
• Equality of opportunity was a key concept, believing that anyone could achieve prosperity with hard work.

Political Conservatism: Harding and Coolidge

• Warren G. Harding (1921), a conservative Republican, became US President.
• He promised "return to normalcy," emphasizing isolationism, reduced immigration, and less government intervention.
• The Revenue Act of 1921 reduced income taxes, and the Act was repealed.
• The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 limited immigration drastically.
• The Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act (1922) protected American businesses and agriculture from foreign competition.
• Calvin Coolidge (VP) succeeded Harding and was elected president in 1924, promoting laissez-faire and classical liberal economic policies.
• Revenue Acts of 1924 and 1928 further decreased income taxes.
• Immigration Act of 1924 curtailed immigration from Asia and from other countries.

Government Responses to the Depression (Canada)

• Prime Minister Bennett (Conservative) was elected in 1930, promising work projects to combat unemployment.
• Relief camps were established, but government spending was reduced.
• The Bank of Canada was founded to regulate the money supply.
• Bennett attempted to arrest left-wing groups, showing distrust of communist activities.
• By 1935, Bennett introduced programs similar to Roosevelt's, but lost the election to William Lyon Mackenzie King.
• King's government implemented social programs, formed Crown corporations, and laid foundations for a mixed economy.

Monetarism: Friedman and Hayek

• A shift towards classical liberal laissez-faire economics, called monetarism, emerged in the 1970s.
• This shift occurred in response to governments' struggles to address stagflation and inflation.
• Monetarist theory focused on controlling the money supply to regulate inflation and unemployment.
• Milton Friedman believed increased money supply led to inflation, while Friedrich Hayek argued that excessive government control hindered economic growth.
• Canadian policies starting reflecting these views under different leaders.

Explore the Issues

• Concept Review: Understand principles of Keynesian economics and monetarism, then apply these concepts to actual historical examples.
• Concept Application: Review the economic aspects of liberalism to explore possible local, provincial or federal government policies. Evaluate the implications and potential effect of such policies.
• Comparison of countries: Compare economic challenges of a modern communist country against a liberal democracy. Examine government intervention and its application to each country’s economic policy.
• Case Study: Discuss the choice of living in different countries (e.g., Sweden and the US) based on personal circumstances and economic policies.