Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-jbqgn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-02T07:32:03.809Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

From Multi-Industry Planning to Keynesian Planning: Gardiner Means, the American Keynesians, and National Economic Planning at the National Resources Committee

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 October 2011

Extract

In recent years we have witnessed a revival of interest in the National Resources Committee (NRC) and its work on national planning. The research shows that the roots of national planning at the NRC are found in the Progressive Era, when individuals sought, through city, regional, and economic planning, to bring order to American society, in the government's management of the economy during World War I, and in Hoover's attempt at macromanagement of the economy. The research also shows that national economic planning, as distinct from other forms of planning, was an important component of the committee's work. In regard to this, researchers have acknowledged that Gardiner Means, as director of the Industrial Section of the Industrial Committee and author of The Structure of the American Economy, Part I: Basic Characteristics, was an important and outspoken advocate of economic planning within the NRC, but they have been less clear as to his specific contributions to economic planning. Moreover, the researchers have not extensively investigated the NRC position toward national economic planning, the economic models from which national economic plans would be developed, and the impact of the Keynesian revolution on the NRC approach to national economic planning. These omissions are not surprising inasmuch as neither Warken's (1979) nor Clawson's (1981) general coverage of the NRC provided much more than a brief and superficial description of the Industrial Section and a listing of its most important publications. Kalish (1963), on the other hand, discussed Means and the Industrial Section in more depth but in such a disjointed manner that it is impossible to grasp the movement toward economic planning that took place in the NRC and the important role Means played in the process. Finally, neither Chapman's (1981 and 1983) nor Jeffries's (1987) discussions of the impact of the Keynesian revolution on the activities of the NRC dealt specifically with its impact on Means's work on economic planning.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA. 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Advisory Committee. 1935. Minutes of Meetings. National Archives: Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), 103.1.Google Scholar
Alchon, Guy. 1985. The Invisible Hand of Planning. Princeton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baran, Paul A. 1952. “National Economic Planning.” In A Survey of Contemporary Economics, 2:355403, ed. Haley, Bernard F.. Homewood, IIl.Google Scholar
Barber, William J. 1985. From New Era to New Deal. Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barber, William J. 1987. “The Career of Alvin H. Hansen in the 1920s and 1930s: A Study in Intellectual Transformation.” History of Political Economy 19:191205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaisdell, Thomas C. 1935. Letter to W. W. Alexander, 10 October. National Archives. Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), Entry 35, Box 7, Folder National Resources Committee.Google Scholar
Blaisdell, Thomas C. 1937. “Report of Subcommittee Appointed to Consider a Projected Study of Housing as One of the Strategic Points.” 14 May. National Archives: Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), 106.5.Google Scholar
Blaisdell, Thomas C. 1937b. “The Industrial Structure and the Problem of Strategic Controls.” June. National Archives: Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), 106.5.Google Scholar
Blaisdell, Thomas C. 1937c. Letter of Transmittal to The Advisory Committee, 13 November. Charles E. Merriam Papers, Box 188, Folder 1. University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Carson, Carol S. 1975. “The History of the United States National Income and Product Accounts: The Development of an Analytical Tool.” Review of Income and Wealth 21 (June): 153–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chapman, Richard N. 1981. Contours of Public Policy, 1939–1945. New York.Google Scholar
Chapman, Richard N. 1983. “The New Deal and the New Economics Revisited: The Works Financing Act of 1939.” Unpublished.Google Scholar
Chase, Stuart. 1932. A New Deal. New York.Google Scholar
Clark, John M. 1935. Strategic Factors in Business Cycles. New York.Google Scholar
Clawson, Marion. 1981. New Deal Planning. Baltimore.Google Scholar
Currie, Lauchlin. 1938. Memo to Gardiner C. Means, 29 November. National Archives: Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), 751.Google Scholar
Currie, Lauchlin. 1980. “Causes of the Recession.” History of Political Economy 12:316–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galambos, Louis. 1975. The Public Image of Big Business in America, 1880–1940. Baltimore.Google Scholar
Hagen, Everett E. 1947. “Forecasting Gross National Product and Emplyoment during the Transition Period: An Example of the Nation's Budget Method.” In Studies in Income and Wealth, 10:94109. New York.Google Scholar
Hagen, Everett E. 1988. Personal communication, 12 December.Google Scholar
Hansen, Alvin H. 1939. Letter to Thomas Blaisdell, Jr., 27 October. National Archives: Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), Papers of Thomas Blaisdell, Jr., Box 11, File “Reports—The Structure of American Economy.”Google Scholar
Hansen, Alvin H. 1940. “Price Flexibility and the Full Employment of Resources.” In The Structure of the American Economy. Part II: Toward Full Use of Resources, 2734. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Hawley, Ellis W. 1966. The New Deal and the Problem of Monopoly. Princeton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawley, Ellis W. 1979. The Great War and the Search for a Modem Order. New York.Google Scholar
Industrial Committee. 19341939. Minutes of Meetings. National Archives: Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), 106.5.Google Scholar
Jeffries, John W. 1986. “Franklin D. Roosevelt and the ‘America of Tomorrow.’” In Papers and Responsibility: Case Studies in American Leadership, ed. Kennedy, David M. and Parrish, Michael E., 2966, San Diego.Google Scholar
Jeffries, John W. 1987. “From Security to Abundance: The National Resources Planning Board and American Liberalism, 1937–1945.” Unpublished.Google Scholar
Jones, Byrd L. 1980. “Lauchlin Currie and the Causes of the 1937 Recession.” History of Political Economy 12:303–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalish, Richard. 1963. “National Resource Planning: 1933–1939.” Ph.D. diss., University of Colorado.Google Scholar
Klein, Lawrence R. 1946. “A Post-Mortem on Transition Predictions of National Product.” The Journal of Political Economy 54 (August): 289308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, Lawrence R. 1947. “The Use of Econometric Models as a Guide to Economic Policy.” Econometrica 15 (April): 111–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lanier, James C. 1970. “Stuart Chase: An Intellectual Biography (1880–1940).” Ph.D. diss., Emory University.Google Scholar
Lash, Joseph P. 1988. Dealers and Dreamers. New York.Google Scholar
Lee, Frederic S. 1988a. “A New Dealer in Agriculture: G. C. Means and the Writing of Industrial Prices.” Review of Social Economy 46 (October): 180202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, Frederic S. 1988b. “G. C. Means and the Origin of the Concept of Administered Prices.” Unpublished.Google Scholar
Lee, Frederic S. 1989. “Gardiner Means and the First General Statistical Model of the American Economy.” Unpublished.Google Scholar
Lee, Frederic S. 1990. ”The Modern Corporation and Gardiner Means's Critique of Neoclassical Economics.” The Journal of Economic Issues 24.Google Scholar
Leontief, Wassily W. 1936. “Quantitative Input and Output Relations in the Economic System of the United States.” Review of Economics and Statistics 18:105–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leven, Maurice, Moulton, Harold G., and Warburton, Clark. 1934. America's Capacity to Consume. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Loeb, Harold. 1935. The Chart of Plenty. New York.Google Scholar
May, Dean L. 1981. From New Deal to New Economics. New York.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1934a. “NRA and AAA and the Reorganization of Industrial Policy Making.” 29 August. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1934b. “Industrial Resources: Proposed Exploratory Study.” In “Work Relief Program of Planning Projects,” Appendix F, National Resources Board Minutes, 1 April 1935. National Archives. Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), 103.03.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1935a. Industrial Prices and Their Relative Inflexibility. Senate Document No. 13. 74th Cong., 1st sess. Washington, D.C: 17 January.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1935b. “Industrial Resource Studies.” 31 January. In “Work Relief Program of Planning Projects,” Appendix F, National Resources Board Minutes, 1 April 1935. National Archives. Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), 103.03.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1935c. “Development of Techniques for Making Industrial Capacity Studies.” 15 March. Charles E. Merriam Papers. Box 185, Folder 1. University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1935d. “Proposed Study of the Field of Consumption Research.” 30 March. Charles E. Merriam Papers, Box 187, Folder 1. University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1935e. “The Major Causes of the Depression.” 19 June. Gardiner C. Means Papers, Series I, Depression: “The Major Causes of the Depression.” Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1935f. Memo to Kneeland, 4 November. National Archives: Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), 705.1.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1935g. “Outline of Approach to Economic Planning.” 8 October. Gardiner C. Means Papers, Series II, Industrial Committee 1934–36. Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1935h. “Princeton Talk.” Gardiner C. Means Papers, Series I, Price Inflexibility. Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1936. “Proposals for Bringing the Technical Phases of National Planning to a National Focus.” 28 November. Charles E. Merriam Papers, Box 185, Folder 1. University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1937a. “Utilizing National Resources: Production-Consumption Patterns as a Means to More Effective Resource Use.” January. Charles E. Merriam Papers, Box 184, Folder 9. University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1937b. Memo to Charles E. Merriam, 23 January. National Archives: Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), 705.1.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1937c. Memo to C. E. Merriam, 21 June. Charles E. Merriam Papers, Box 185, Folder 1. University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1937d. Letter to E. J. Coil, 16 December. National Archives: Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), 705.1.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1937e. “The Structure of the American Political Economy and the Focal Points of Control.” 30 June. Charles E. Merriam Papers, Box 185, Folder 1. University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1938a. Patterns of Resource Use. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1938b. Letter to Jerome Frank, 27 June. Jerome Frank Papers, Box 33, Folder 472. Yale University.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1938c. Letter to Jerome Frank, 16 July. Jerome Frank Papers, Box 33, Folder 472. Yale University.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1938d. Memo to Frederic A. Delano, 3 June. National Archives. Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), 705.1.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1938e. Memo to Industrial Committee, 28 June. Charles E. Merriam Papers, Box 183, Folder 14. University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1938f. Letter to Beardsley Ruml, 18 October. National Archives: Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), 751.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1939a. The Structure of the American Economy. Part I: Basic Characteristics. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1939b. “Conclusion.” National Archives: Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), 751.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1940a. Memo to the National Resources Planning Board, 31 May. Charles E. Merriam Papers, Box 222, Folder 8. University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1940b. “The Controversy over the Problem of Full Employment.” In The Structure of the American Economy. Part II: Toward Full Use of Resources, 9–17. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1940c. Memo to C. E. Merriam, 29 June. Charles E. Merriam Papers, Box 217, Folder 13. University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C., et al. 1940. The Structure of the American Economy. Part II: Toward Full Use of Resources. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Means, Gardiner C. 1951. Letter to Hugh J. Kennedy, Jr., 13 November. Gardiner C. Means Papers, Series IV, Correspondence I-K. Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.Google Scholar
Metcalf, Evan B. 1975. “Secretary Hoover and the Emergence of Macroeconomic Management.” Business History Review 49 (Spring): 6080.Google Scholar
National Resources Board. 19341935. Minutes of Meetings. National Archives: Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), 103.03.Google Scholar
National Resources Committee. 1936. Progress Report 1936. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
National Resources Committee. 1937A. Some Factors in the Development of Housing Policies in the United States. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
National Resources Committee. 1937b. Progress Report J937. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
National Resources Committee. 1938. Consumer Incomes in the United States: Their Distribution in J935–36. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
National Resources Committee. 1939a. Progress Report 1938. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
National Resources Committee. 1939b. Consumer Expenditures in the United States: Estimates for 1935–36. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Nelson, James C. 1987. Personal communication, 3 February.Google Scholar
Paradiso, Louis J. 1940. Capital Requirements: A Study in Methods as Applied to the Iron and Steel Industry. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Pells, Richard H. 1973. Radical Visions and American Dreams. New York.Google Scholar
Reagan, Patrick. 1982. “The Architects of Modern American National Planning.” Ph.D. diss., Ohio State University.Google Scholar
Sapir, Michael. 1949. “Review of Economic Forecasts for the Transition Period.” In Studies in Income and Wealth, 11:273351. New York.Google Scholar
Schwarz, Jordan A. 1987. Liberal: Adolf A. Berle and the Vision of an American Era. New York.Google Scholar
Smithies, Arthur. 1945. “Forecasting Postwar Demand.” Econometrica 13 (January): 114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soule, George. 1932. A Planned Society. New York.Google Scholar
Stoneman, William E. 1979. A History of the Economic Analysis of the Great Depression in America. New York.Google Scholar
Summaries of Discussion Between the Advisory Committee and the Industrial Committee. 1938. Charles E. Merriam Papers, Box 183, Folder 8. University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Sweezy, Paul. 1987. Personal communication, 10 February.Google Scholar
Tobin., James. 1988. “Keynesian Economics and Harvard: A Revolution Remembered.” Challenge Magazine of Economic Affairs 31 (July/August): 3541.Google Scholar
Ware, Caroline F. 1982. “Reminiscences.” Women in Federal Government Project. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Ware, Caroline F. 1989. Personal communication, 20 February.Google Scholar
Ware, Caroline F., and Means, Gardiner C.. 1936. The Modern Economy in Action. New York.Google Scholar
Ware, Caroline F., Means, Gardiner C., and Blaisdell, Thomas G., Jr. 1982. “Consumer Participation at the Federal Level.” In Consumer Activists: They Made a Difference, 171–97. Edited by Erma, Angevine. Mount Vernon, N.Y.Google Scholar
Warken, Philip W. 1979. A History of the National Resource Planning Board, 1933–1943. New York.Google Scholar
Whitman, R. H. 1940. Memo to Mr. Ruml “Re: Notes on Structure Study,” 28 March. National Archives: Central Office Records of the National Resources Planning Board (RG 187), 751.Google Scholar