Saving Capitalism by James Stuart Olson

Saving Capitalism by James Stuart Olson

For two generations historians have debated the significance of the New Deal, arguing about what it tried and tried not to do, whether it was radical or reactionary, and what its origins were. They have emphasized the National Recovery Administration, Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, or the various social and labor legislation to illustrate an assortment of arguments about the "real" New Deal. Here James Olson contends that the little-studied Reconstruction Finance Corporation was the major New Deal agency, even though it was the product of the Hoover Administration. Pouring more than ten billion dollars into private businesses during the 1930s in a strenuous effort to "save capitalism," the RFC was the largest, most powerful, and most influential of all New Deal agencies, proving that the main thrust of the New Deal was state capitalism--the use of the federal government to shore up private property and the status quo. As national and international money markets collapsed in 1930, Hoover created an RFC with a structure similar to that of his War Finance Corporation. The agency was given two billion dollars to make low-interest loans to commercial banks, savings banks, other financial institutions, and railroads. With modifications, it survived the ultimate collapse of the economy in 1933 and went on to become the central part of the New Deal's effort to preserve fundamental American institutions. Originally published in 1988. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

James S. Olson is Distinguished Professor of History at Sam Houston State University, and the recipient of the university's Excellence in Teaching Award and Excellence in Research Award. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of more than 30 books, including The Ethnic Dimension in American History, Fourth Edition (with Heather Olson Beal, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010) and Bathsheba's Breast: Women, Cancer, and History (2002), which won the History of Science Category Award from the Association of American Publishers, and was recognized by the Los Angeles Times as one of the best non-fiction books in America for 2002.

Randy W. Roberts is Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University. Among other books he is the author of A Team for America: The Army-Navy Game That Rallied a Nation at War (2012), coeditor of Hollywood's America: Twentieth-Century America Through Film, Fourth Edition (with Steven Mintz, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), and coauthor of A Line in the Sand: The Alamo in Blood and Memory (with James S. Olson, 2001), My Lai: A Brief History with Documents (with James S. Olson, 1998), and John Wayne American (with James S. Olson, 1996).

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780691608204
ISBN 10	0691608202
Title	Saving Capitalism
Author	James Stuart Olson
Series	Princeton Legacy Library
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Princeton University Press
Year published	2017-03-21
Number of pages	258
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.