San Antonio College Library

The authors re-examine our assumptions about poverty in America--what it really is and how to eliminate it now.

In response to rising interest rates in the 1970s, the Maryland legislature raised usury ceilings so that more home loans would be available. In December of 1980 Apple Computers went public, affirming four years of hard work with substantial compensation for its founders. Pharmaceutical companies invest millions in bringing new drugs to market. How much profit do they get in return? These stories exhibit economic reasons for interest payments and...

The U.S. auto industry lost a lot of mileage in 1973 with the rise of the more efficient Japanese imports. In the 1970s, the "trigger/price mechanism" was developed in order to differentiate between fair and unfair trade practices. Debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) included accusations that American jobs would suffer and American firms would relocate south of the border. Others insisted that increased trade would create new...

In 1937 the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a government-owned utility company, was created to electrify rural communities and control flooding. 1965 marked the first U.S. attempt at national health insurance in the passage of Medicare and Medicaid. In response to 9/11, the U.S. Transportation and Security Administration replaced private security firms with federal employees. A perfectly competitive market does not always provide the right amount...

In the 1960s, President Lyndon Baines Johnson continued fueling the domestic agenda of his "Great Society," keeping a low profile on the Vietnam War. But the U.S. overspent and inflation bubbled over. Anyone living on a marginally fixed income endured harsh consequences under inflation, and workers' strikes only brought costs up more. After his election in 1972, Richard Nixon ordered a 90-day nationwide price and wage freeze after the Federal Reserve...

During WWII, our national debt had more than quadrupled, so government encouraged citizens to buy war bonds and federal stamps to pay some of it off. In 1960, President Eisenhower achieved a surplus and reduced the debt, a feat not repeated until the 1990s. But a large tax cut in 2001, three wars, a down market and huge entitlement costs pushed the deficit and the national debt to an alarming new height that forced a fierce confrontation between Congressional...

In preparation for WWII, the Roosevelt administration instituted wage price and price controls to curb inflation and better focus production on war materials. When the Nixon administration set up price controls for beef, farmers attempted to stifle the supply by withholding animals from the markets. Following WWII, rent controls established to aid returning war veterans cut into landlord profits and consequently led some to abandon properties. These...

The Federal Reserve was originally created in 1913 as an emergency lender to banks- a sort of bank of last resort. The Banking Act of 1935 and the Fed Accord of 1951 broadened the powers of the Fed, widening the range of options and tools it could use to manage the economy. Up to about 2010, the Fed did fairly well. But the housing bubble and Great Recession provided it with new and substantial challenges. These stories showcase the Fed's capabilities...

The Knickerbocker Bank's failure led to the Bank Panic of 1907, and ultimately inspired a need for a central bank. When thousands of banks failed in the 1930s, President Roosevelt declared a National Bank Holiday closing individual banks, and created new regulatory agencies to guard the system. But in the wake of the 2008 Great Recession and the failure of regulators to act, the Dodd/Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act became law....

Farmers lured into producing massive food surpluses for WWI could no longer profit when the war ended and demand plummeted. After 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to improve the conditions of farmers via policies in his New Deal plan. Government subsidies later allowed for corporate ownership of a majority of farmers. The Freedom to Farm Bill of 1996 gave farmers a little more maneuverability, but for the most part farmers are still held...