Transcript Carter and the Economy - apusmiskinis2012-2013

• Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter
• Objective: to determine the effectiveness
of Carter’s response to decreasing faith in
the US government.
I. Gerald Ford
• Ford’s short presidency
– President Ford granted a full pardon to Richard Nixon for any
crime he may have committed.
– Ford tried to cut government spending to curb inflation but the
Democratic Congress passed many spending bills against his
wishes.
– In foreign affairs, Ford continued the policy of détente and kept
Kissinger as secretary of state.
– Congress refused to allow Ford to take part in Vietnam or Cuba,
but he did recover the cargo ship—the Mayaguez—from the
Cambodian navy.
I. Ford
• Loss of Public Confidence
– Ford was perceived as a comical figure
• LBJ’s remark
– Pardon of Nixon made his popularity plummet
• High 60s to low 30s in the polls
II. The Economy of the 1970s
• Out of control inflation!
– Inflation rose to over ten percent for much of
the decade.
– Stagflation: inflation high, GDP growth low
– Occurred primarily during the Nixon and Ford
presidencies, but greatly shaped the Carter
presidency
• Causes: wage and price controls (shortages)
under Nixon, Oil embargo
II. The Economy of the 1970s
• Decaying Cities
– White Flight (“Donut Hole Effect”)
– Fleeing Factories
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Rust Belt in the North, declining South
Factories moved to Latin America, South East Asia
Foreign competition, e.g. auto industry
Labor suffers, e.g. AFL-CIO loses 30% of its
membership
III. Jimmy Carter
• Candidate Carter
– Jimmy Carter came across as an honest man of deep
religious faith who promised not to lie to the American
people.
– Carter immediately tried to help the nation heal some
of the wounds of the past.
• Ex. He issued a pardon to thousands of Vietnam War draft
dodgers.
– Carter tackled problems in the economy and with
energy.
– Finally, Carter tried to deal with environmental issues.
III. Jimmy Carter
• Carter the Reformer
– “Studied Informality”
– Pardoned draft dodgers
– Removed funding for the B-1 Bomber
– Established the “Superfund”
– Carter made the development of a national
energy policy a priority.
III. Jimmy Carter
• Energy Policy
– Created the Department of Energy
• Fund research for alternative fuels
• Regulate energy producers
– Emergency Natural Gas Act
– However, his successes were largely
forgotten by 1979 during another gas
shortage (Iranian Revolution)
III. Jimmy Carter
Environmental Successes
– Believed that conserving fuel was a key way
to avoid plundering the environment
– Passed the Alaska National Interest Lands
Conservation Act
• The act protected more than 100 million acres of
land and doubled the size of the nation’s park and
wildlife refuge system.
III. Jimmy Carter
Environmental Losses
• In 1979 a mishap at a nuclear power plant on Three Mile
Island terrified the nation.
• Although little radiation was released, public concern
about the safety of nuclear power grew.
• Chemicals that a company dumped in New York began
to seep up through the ground at Love Canal and were
linked to high rates of birth defects.
• Experts warned that there were likely many more toxic
waste sites around the nation.
III. Jimmy Carter
Carter and the Economy
– Carter was unable to bring down inflation.
– Carter’s energy policies were successful at
helping reduce American dependence on
foreign oil but this was not immediately
apparent
• American production of energy increased under
Carter.
III. Jimmy Carter
• Public Confidence plummets
– Foreign policy disasters
– Energy program too complex
– Really, really unfortunate press coverage
– High prices and run away inflation
• “Malaise” Speech in 1979