Impact of anti-poverty policies and economic divisions, 1961-80 Flashcards
Who persuaded Congress to pass the Economic Opportunity Act in 1964?
What is it?
What vision of Johnson’s was this central to?
What did two things did Congress establish in 1965 to assist the elderly who constituted a large portion of America’s poor? Define these
-President Johnson.
-The Economic Opportunity Act provided ait to poor families.
-This was central to his Great Society vision whereby the federal gov’t would ensure the end of poverty and urban decay and bring racial equality and educational reform.
-1965 Congress established Medicare and Medicaid.
-Medicare provided federally funded health insurance for over-65s and those with disabilities.
-Medicaid was a scheme whereby federal money was given to states to help them provide essential medical services to those in need.
By 1968 did many think it was possible for the USA to fund both the Great Society and Vietnam War?
What did Conservatives argue about the money being spent on welfare programmes? Liberals?
Despite Johnson’s schemes helping many of the poor what could this not stop in 1968?
-NO. By 1968 it was apparent the USA could not afford both.
-Conservatives bemoaned the fact that too much money was being spent on welfare programmes, which simply increased the poor’s dependency on the state.
-Liberals bemoaned the lack of money spent on Great Society schemes.
-Johnson’s schemes could not prevent the riots in 1968.
What economic issues did Nixon inherity in 1969? (% inflation?) (federal?) (Productivity?)
Did efforts to half inflation succeed?
What year did Nixon implement his New Economic policy? What did it do? Was this successful?
What year did the dollar further devaluate under Nixon?
What happened when Nixon abandoned wage and price controls in 1973?
-Nixon inherited a massive federal deficit, inflation at 4.7%, declining productivity and balance of trade problems.
-Efforts to halt inflation by cutting federal spending failed.
-Nixon’s New Economic Policy (1971) introduced the USA’s first peacetime wage-price freeze and de-valued the dollar. The devaluation, which made US exports cheaper, was designed to help the balance of trade. But the USA’s economic woes continued.
-A further devaluation of the dollar in 1973 proved equally ineffective.
-When Nixon abandoned wage and price controls in 1973, prices rocketed.
By 1970 what fraction of the USA’s oil was imported from the Middle East?
What war disrupted this trade in 1973?
What was the Embargo’s end followed by? (Oil prices?)
-1970 A third of USA’s oil was imported from the Middle East.
-The oil embargo, resulting from the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, revealed America’s economic vulnerability.
-The embargo’s end was followed by a near four-fold increase in oil prices.This had a massive impact on the US economy.
What did the USA experience economically between 1973-80?
What did the cost of living rise by(%) during this period?
Who was hit hardest from this?
What became the new norm for those used to well-paid work?
What two things was this mainly due to?
-1973-80 the USA experienced unprecedented inflation(mainly due to rising oil prices and gov’t overspending) which was near double figures.
-The cost of living rose by 8.2% yearly, this affected family incomes.
-The hardest hit were those in areas of declining manufacturing output.
-Increasingly people previously used to well-paid work found themselves unemployed.
-This was mainly due to:
-Increased mechanisation
-Countries(like Japan) producing goods at lower prices and often higher quality.
What happened in the harsh winter of 1976-77 as a result of the rising energy cost(Eastern America)(Petrol stations)?
What fraction of Petrol stations were without fuel by 1979?
What was the new price of petrol from those that remained compared to 1978? What did drivers have to do to obtain petrol from stations?
What were Ford, Carter and Congerss all unable to solve the economic issue of?
What did this contribute to the political climate?
-In the harsh winter of 1976-77, a gas shortage led to closure of schools and factores in eastern America. Petrol stations cut their hours in order to preserve supplies.
-By 1979 1/2 of the USA’s petrol stations were without fuel.
-Those that remained charged 50% more than in 1978. Drivers had to queue for petrol.
-Congress, Ford and Carter all failed to solve the fueld crisis and stagflation(high inflation and unemployment).
-This contributed to the growing political disillusion and the feeling that the USA was in decline.
