Leon H. Keyserling : a progressive economist / Donald K. Pickens.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pickens, Donald K.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Keyserling, Leon H. (Leon Hirsch), 1908-1987.

Keyserling, Leon H.

Economists--United States--Biography.

Economists.

United States.

United States--Economic policy--1945-1960.

Economic policy.

United States--Economic policy--1961-1971.

United States--Economic policy--1971-1981.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

ix, 245 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, MD : Lexington Books, [2009]

Summary:

Leon H. Keyserling: A Progressive Economist is the insightful biography of the life and thought of the influential liberal reformer Leon H. Keyserling. By examining Keyserling's life in the context of integrative liberalism, this biography aims to explore the origins of the concept of integrative liberalism and Keyserling's profound and provocative contribution to it. Donald K. Pickens follows the political reformer's life from the beginning of his career as a member of Democratic Senator Robert Wagner's staff, simultaneously showing how the Progressive Movement, before World War I, was the ideological and institutional origin for integrative liberalism. The Great Depression and subsequent New Deal, to which Keyserling was a significant contributor, allowed integrative liberalism to develop until the movement started losing vitality in the 1960s and came to an end during the Reagan presidency. In the meantime, Pickens presents Keyserling as a major sculptor of Truman's economic policies; after the Truman adminstration, he left the government and began effectively debating public policy on his own.

Tracing Keyserling's interactions with each presidency, Pickens shows that Keyserling's policies and politics were expressive of integrated liberalism, an often-overlooked philosophy of reform in the second half of the twentieth century. The ideological cornerstone of integrative liberalism was a full employment public policy, expressed as economic growth and developed directly from U.S. history. The fear driving the policy was that there would be wide swings in the business cycle, resulting in underemployment and economic stagnation. This sentiment and fear has an impact even now in the twenty-first century, making Leon H. Keyserling a timely and profitable study for graduate and undergraduate students of history, economics, political science, and public administration.

Contents:

1 The Beaufort and New York City Years 23

2 Keyserling, Wagner, and the New Deal's Integrative Liberalism 39

3 Housing, World War II, and Integrative Liberalism 57

4 Integrative Liberalism and the Council of Economic Advisers, 1946-1953 85

5 Keyserling and the "Defunct Economists" 119

6 A Liberal in Exile: Keyserling in Eisenhower's America 145

7 The Sixties: The New Deal Legacy and Integrative Liberalism's Future 163

8 From Nixon to Reagan: The Age of Limits and the Eclipse of Integrative Liberalism 187

9 The End Game: Keyserling and Reaganism 211.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780739140833

0739140833

9780739140857

073914085X

OCLC:

367418619