...Timothy Geithner on Populism, Paul Ryan, and His Legacy BY LIAQUAT AHAMED Timothy Geithner took over as Treasury Secretary in the middle of the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression. In four years, he helped design the largest government stimulus package in history, and contended with a weak recovery, millions of Americans losing their homes, obstinately high unemployment and complicated budget negotiations. To his fans, he is the figure most responsible for stabilizing the banking system and preventing a catastrophic economic collapse. To his critics, he was excessively generous to bankers and failed to change a system where some banks remained “too big to fail.” In a wide-ranging interview during his last days at Treasury, he kept returning to what has become one of his signature themes—the importance of putting “policy ahead of politics.” All too often, in his view, the best economic policies have enormous up-front political costs. We began by talking about the financial crisis of 2008. MARCH 8, 2013 NATE COHN OTHER STORIES FROM LA: Your predecessor Hank Paulson in his book describes how at the height of the crisis he would have sleepless nights, worrying that a giant financial collapse was going to occur on his watch and that he would go down in history as the Herbert Hoover of the current era. Your colleagues all say you are remarkably calm, even in the middle of a crisis. TG: Well I was very worried throughout that period of time. Starting in August...
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...Each president of the United States that comes into office has a different agenda and a different way of running things. All of the decisions they make in office impact everyone. After the president leaves office, they leave a legacy behind. This legacy could either be satisfactory or unsatisfactory, depending on what they did while in office. Three presidents that left a big legacy on America are Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt and each of them impacted, either good or bad, the country in some way. While each left a legacy, one president's legacy was more impactful, in a helpful way, to America’s development and growth. Before Ronald Reagan came into office in 1980, there was a major recession in the late 1970’s. This means that there was a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity were reduced. Reagan’s promise to the people was that he was going to restore the economy, but everyone's question was how he planned to do that. His plan was to provide tax breaks to the very wealthy people. The idea was that if the wealthy class had more money, they could provide more jobs and the money would make its way down to the other classes, this was called trickle down economics (Corvo, Lecture). Reagan’s...
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...The government increased taxes on corporate profits and the wealthy. FDR also aided laborers in their quest to organize. Guaranteed economic security and welfare were given to the elderly, disabled and unemployed. Expansion of government can be seen in the employment of the Social Security Act. Women, African Americans, Native Americans and workers were inspired by the democratic nature of the recovery. But, African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Native Americans still suffered disproportionately. The government was not able to improve their social (and economic) marginality in society. Racism, sexism, and congressional politics prevented the full potential of New Deal funds from actually reaching women & ethnic minorities. FDR’s administration wanted to operate from within the legacy of conservationist Teddy Roosevelt. They moved to protect soil, harness water, and provide electricity to the nation. The Dust Bowl was an 11-year drought and directed government attention to the need of conserving soil and planting responsibly in the Great Plains. Workers employed by the CCC improved and enhanced the infrastructure of...
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...President Franklin D Roosevelt, the ideas of government changed drastically from a rather distant relationship between the government and its people to one where executive power was used to meet the needs of the people. Consequently, almost every President, starting with Franklin D Roosevelt in 1933 to the present has slowly expanded the role of government to what we have today. The Federal Government as well as the Supreme Court changed its ideals increasingly about thoughts on interference in the lives of individuals as classical liberalism morphed into what is known as liberalism today. Through the onset of protective labor laws and the programs initiated by the New Deal a shift in the Democratic Party towards leftist ideals was recognized. With the United States emerging as a more industrialized nation, new laws were necessary to protect those subjugated to unsafe conditions, unfair wages and long work hours. In this change from a mostly agriculturally dominated society to a more industrialized one the development of a more dependent labor force was derived. These dependents were continually abused as the Supreme Court ignored disparities of the people in defense of an outdated interpretation of the Constitution. Employees’ right to work long hours and earn modest pay was considered a freedom protected by the Due Process Clause and linked to the emergence of slavery. That judicial notion of liberty constrained legislators from interfering with employers who coerced...
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...New Nationalism and Teddy Roosevelt: The new ideals of federal intervention, social justice and economic welfare for the Nation. Abstract In 1901 when President McKinley was assassinated, Roosevelt confronted sentiment, especially from the older members of the Republican Party, that he was not the right person to lead the country, often referring to him as “His Accidency.” Roosevelt was interested in quickly changing the mood of the country and establishing his legitimacy to his new position. He did so by introducing a “New Nationalist” form of Progressivism. When Roosevelt was sworn in, the Progressive Party had already been developing and growing since the end of the 19th century. It advocated for reforms and the lead of the government in changing society’s problems in response to socio-economic and political imbalances. Such thinking was a radical change in the country’s mindset, with earlier efforts supporting private efforts to solve the nation’s ills. The Progressive party had a broad platform, but the overall goal was for government to implement and lead efforts to alter societal inequalities. The Progressives called for eliminating corruption in the federal government as well as supporting a social welfare program, the women’s vote, penal system reform, and prohibition. Although the issue of civil rights for African-Americans was of concern of some members, this issue was not formally included in any of the Progressive party’s literature. With the support of...
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...These two presidents continued the legacy of Roosevelt (to an extent) by continuing to regulate American Industry. The Mann-Elkins Act of 1910 gave the Interstate Commerce Commission more power to set Railroad rates, similarly to what Roosevelt did. Taft actually busted more trusts than Roosevelt did, and he busted 99 trusts, including the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey and the American Tobacco Company. However, he eventually drew criticism from even Roosevelt, since Taft tried to bust all trusts, while Roosevelt believed in distinguishing between good trusts and bad trusts. Woodrow Wilson’s presidency followed Taft, and Wilson focused largely on tariff rates. He did this through the Underwood-Simmons Act, which was very effective in drastically reducing tariff rates. Wilson argued that high tariff rates hurt consumers and contributed to the formation of monopolies. Wilson was also a strong supporter of the Clayton Antitrust Act, which...
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...impressive economic expansion, under the guidance of market-oriented governments, has been followed by an explosion in public discontent over endemic corruption, macroeconomic uncertainty, and slowing growth -- signifying a major gap in the relationship between the state and markets. Among newly-emerging economies such as the Philippines, recent economic gains have largely failed to trickle down to the masses. In absence of real political parties, reforms have been more a function of the personal whims of the political leadership rather than a reflection of carefully-considered programmatic action. There has been hardly any policy consistency, with cyclical leadership change ushering in new policy directions -- undermining the positive legacy of the previous administration. True, the Aquino administration has managed to restore a measure of confidence in the economy, with more global investors taking notice of the country's massive economic potentials. And a legion of hard-working Filipinos around the world will continue to boost their national economy through tens of billions in annual remittances. Nevertheless, the long-term trajectory of the Philippine economy and many other emerging markets will primarily depend on how the political classes negotiate a new model of governance, which allows for the simultaneous empowerment of its state institutions as well as the dynamic entrepreneurial classes. And public pressure and democratic participation will be extremely important to reviving...
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...Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, who intense to the social and political changes in America, have successfully raised a betterment for the United States, especially in the period of Progressive movement (1890-1920). Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were the national political leader that regarded as the Progressive president since they introduced dramatic political reforms in the United States. They establish several legislations that considered made the condition of America during the progressive era become better; more organized government, the new banking system, more control over the big business and monopolies, development of modern presidency, were some example of the progressive actions during the presidency era of Roosevelt' and Wilson'. Particularly, T.R. elevated the importance of his presidency by understanding the importance of the press corps and promote his own image as well as to promote the press of the policies in his presidency (Bauer 8). Meanwhile, Wilson enacted the progressivism by reducing the prohibitive tariffs, creating a major transformation of the banking system, and generating new stronger of trust in order to re-establish fair economic competition in the United States (Bauer 9). It just some examples of the significant actions they had established, in the following, will be discussed the other progressive actions as well as the Roosevelt' and Wilson' presidency during the progressive era. WHO WERE THE PROGRESSIVES? At the turn of the century after...
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...Citigroup, is facing a daunting challenge as the head of the largest financial services organization in world. He has joined a company that has experienced significant regulatory scrutiny and that has been linked to the biggest scandals in corporate history. Unfortunately for Prince, the problems are pervasive throughout most of Citigroup’s diverse service offerings. In March 2005, Prince announced his strategy to transform the financial giant and to provide a new direction for the future. He called it the “Five Point Ethics Plan” to: improve training, enhance focus on talent and development, balance performance appraisals and compensation, improve communications, and strengthen controls. Due to the size and complexity of the organization, there were significant unresolved questions. How could the plan be effectively revealed? Would the plan be strong enough to change the culture of the entire organization? How should the corporate communications department handle both the initial and long-term communication of this plan to major stakeholders? About Citigroup Incorporated in 1998, Citigroup Inc. is a diversified global financial services holding company providing services to consumer and corporate customers. The company has approximately 141,000 full-time and 7,000 part-time employees in the United States and 146,000 full-time employees in more than 100 countries outside the United States. All of Citigroup’s services can be grouped in 3 main areas: Global Consumer, Corporate and Investment...
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...issues that caused people in the country to rally around the Populist agenda, and why was it not able to remain a major force in American politics? Populist movement arose primarily in response to the 1890 McKinley Tariff, a very high tariff that particularly hurt western and southern farmers who sold their harvests on unprotected markets but were forced to buy expensive manufactured goods. The backbone of the Populist's Party were mostly poor cotton farmers from the South and wheat farmers from the plain states. Cotton and wheat lost significant value following the two decades after the Civil War. Once America was able to commercialize with the world, the competition lead the bushel of wheat to go from $2 in 1867 to .68 cents in 1887. The farmer did not have the notion or knowledge of crop rotation. They would grow the same crops year after year deplete the soil of nutrients which in reverse cause the yield of crops to decrease substantially....
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...War on Poverty Begun officially in 1964, the War on Poverty was an ambitious governmental effort to address the problem of persistent poverty in the United States. Over the next decade, the federal government—in conjunction with state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and grassroots groups—created a new institutional base for antipoverty and civil rights action and, in the process, highlighted growing racial and ideological tensions in American politics and society. Marked by moments of controversy and consensus, the War on Poverty defined a new era for American liberalism and added new layers to the American welfare state. Legislatively, the first two years were the most active. Between President Lyndon Johnson’s State of the Union address in 1964 and the liberal setbacks suffered in the congressional elections of 1966, the Johnson administration pushed through an unprecedented amount of antipoverty legislation. The Economic Opportunity Act (1964) provided the basis for the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), the Job Corps, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), Upward Bound, Head Start, Legal Services, the Neighborhood Youth Corps, the Community Action Program (CAP), the college Work-Study program, Neighborhood Development Centers, small business loan programs, rural programs, migrant worker programs, remedial education projects, local health care centers, and others. The antipoverty effort, however, did not stop there. It encompassed a range of Great Society...
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...Running Head: Welfare State in America Welfare State Abstract In 1977, then Budget Director for the state of New York, Peter Goldmark, offered his thoughts regarding social welfare programs. “Welfare”, he said, “is hated by those who administer it, mistrusted by those who pay for it and held in contempt by those that recieve it.” Goldmark was certainly not alone in his assessment of social welfare programs. Indeed while the notion of using public funds to help the destitue get back on their feet in a noble concept for left-leaning idealists, in practical application, it has generated more controversy from both sides of the American political aisle than it has addressed poverty in America. This contorvery has become more heated in light of the two recessions and the housing collapse of late 2009. For this research paper, I will be going the history of Welfare in America. The purpose of this research paper is to look at how and why welfare became a policy and how it has changed since its inception. The sources that I have used are from published literature. In conclusion, the reader will have better knowledge on welfare, the history and changes. I first became interested in the subject of Welfare after working for the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family services; where I met with families and processed their eligibilty for: Food Stamps, Ohio Works First (cash assistence) and Medicaid. Unfortuanlty, durning my training as a case worker no history was given...
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...television brought the world into view—and eventually into the living room. The new forms of communication competed with books as sources of amusement and enlightenment. New forms of communication and new modes of transportation made American society increasingly mobile and familiar with many more regions of the country. Literary voices from even the remotest corners could reach a national audience. At the same time, American writers—particularly writers of fiction—began to influence world literature. The 20th century saw the emergence of modernism. Modernism responded to the world’s complexity by asserting that the individual had the potential to achieve a broader perspective than that offered by any one society or its history. Although realism, naturalism, and regionalism were still viable modes of expression, they reflected the increasingly complex reality of 20th-century society. Immigration and industrialization led to increasing urbanization, and, in turn, to class stratification. Theme: Some writers examined the sometimes complex psychology of America’s elite, other writers turned to the psychological and physical reality of the laboring classes, whose ranks continued to swell with high rates of immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Several American authors who are sometimes known as social realists looked at working conditions, often for the purpose of social reform. A period of disillusion and cynicism that followed World War I (1914-1918) found...
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...in the 1920s, and they lived in the grip of a chronic depression. 6. If you were black, if you were a famer, or if you were a recent immigrant living in America in the 1920’s you did not share, generally speaking, in that so-called 1920s prosperity. 7. From the onset of the American industrial revolution in the early nineteenth century right down to the 1930s, the American economy was essentially on a roller coaster ride, where they’d have these periodic boom and bust cycles-depressions in the 1830s, the 1850s, the 1870s, the 1890s; right after World War I was another one-on a scale that we have not seen for the last half century. 8. Insofar as there is a consensus, it seems to be that the First World War so destabilized the major industrial economies and so disrupted the international system of trade and finance that it left in its wake a highly vulnerable system that finally succumbed a decade after the war’s conclusion, in 1929 or 1930, to all the liabilities that had been put into it, you might say, as a result of the...
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...Women’s Evolution We are all born the same and die the same. How can one human allow themselves to take away another human’s rights? There are major books and movies on slavery; however, some people tend to overlook the women’s rights that have come a long way since hundreds of years ago. It was not that along ago when women had no right to work, vote, or get education. They were simply looked upon as the weaker gender compare to men who were unable to perform work requiring muscular or logical development. Society had accepted the thought of women being easily corrupted with all their purity, innocents, and morality that was superior to men. However, some women where against this thought and started the first women’s rights movement in 1848 held in Seneca Falls, New York. It was a call for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women. The Progressive Era began in 1890s and women were the main force behind it. The New Deal, which was passed during the first term of President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, helped many women get employed. During World War I, women played a very important rule back home and in the battle field; they gained a lot more respect with all the hard work they did. Towards the end of nineteenth century, press gave the “New Women” title to those who were active in the public. A key person who was holding an important position in the government and used her powers to help women gain their grounds was Anna Eleanor Roosevelt who...
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