Deconstructing the Monolith

The Microeconomics of the National Industrial Recovery Act

Bibliographic Data

ID7869722
AuthorsMark Hendrickson (University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume107
Issue2
Pages526-527
Publication date2020-09-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of American History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-8723 • E-ISSN: 1945-2314
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/jahist/jaaa214
OpenAlexW3087861408
LanguageEN
Citations received2

In Deconstructing the Monolith the economist Jason E. Taylor provides a microeconomic history of the National Industrial Recovery Act (Nira) that shifts attention away from macroeconomic questions—Did the Nira prolong the Great Depression? What impact did it have on unemployment and inflation?—and toward the actual operation of Nira codes on firm and industry levels. Taylor argues that in the two years of its existence between June 1933 and May 1935, the “effects of the Nira varied dramatically by both industry and time period” (p. 173). This analysis reveals the importance of considering both the specifics of each code (particularly related to labor and trade practice provisions and compliance), which varied widely, and the timing of the passage and implementation of specific codes. Taylor begins by acknowledging that the origins of Nira codes can be traced to the 1920s when Secretary of Commerce (and future president) Herbert Hoover experimented with ways of using an associational state model of public policy to curb wasteful competition, increase the purchasing power of workers, and spread out scarce work

Code (set theory · Competition (biology · Economics · Inflation (cosmology · Macroeconomics · Power (physics · Purchasing power · State (computer science · Unemployment · Work (physics · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Engineering

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