Planning on the Potomac: A Review Essay on Jason E. Taylor's Deconstructing the Monolith: The Microeconomics of the National Industrial Recovery Act
Journal of Economic Literature
vol. 59,
no. 1, March 2021
(pp. 244-64)
Abstract
Taylor (2019) details heterogeneity in the effects of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) across industries and across time. Through first the President's Reemployment Act (PRA) and then industry-specific "codes of fair competition," the NIRA raised wages and restricted working hours. In some—but far from all—cases industries also used a NIRA code to collude, raising prices and restricting output. The effect of the NIRA peaked in fall 1933 and winter 1934; thereafter, compliance declined. I review the intellectual history of the NIRA, the implementation of the PRA and the NIRA codes, and Taylor's econometric evidence on their effects. I end with a discussion of the implications of Taylor's book for understanding the effect of the NIRA on US recovery from the Great Depression.Citation
Hausman, Joshua K. 2021. "Planning on the Potomac: A Review Essay on Jason E. Taylor's Deconstructing the Monolith: The Microeconomics of the National Industrial Recovery Act." Journal of Economic Literature, 59 (1): 244-64. DOI: 10.1257/jel.20191568Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
- G01 Financial Crises
- H50 National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: General
- N32 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: 1913-
- N42 Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: U.S.; Canada: 1913-