Pivotal Decade: How the United States Traded Factories for Finance in the Seventies

384 Pages·2010·2.697 MB·English

by  Judith Stein

PIVOTAL DECADE
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judith stein
Pivotal Decade
how the united states traded factories for
finance in the seventies
new haven and london
Published with assistance from the Kingsley Trust Association Publication Fund established
by the Scroll and Key Society of Yale College.
Copyright ∫ 2010 by Judith Stein.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and
except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers.
Set in Scala Roman and Scala Sans type by Keystone Typesetting, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stein, Judith, 1940–
Pivotal decade : How the United States traded factories for finance in the seventies /
Judith Stein.
p. cm.
‘‘Published with assistance from the Kingsley Trust Association Publication Fund.’’
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-300-11818-6 (alk. paper)
1. United States—Economic policy—1971–1981. 2. Keynesian economics. 3. Financial
institutions—United States. 4. United States—Politics and government—1969–1974.
5. United States—Politics and government—1974–1977. 6. United States—Politics and
government—1977–1981. I. Title.
hc106.7.s74 2010
330.973%092—dc22
2009043742
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (Permanence of Paper).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For George and Anne Stein
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contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xv
1 ‘‘The Great Compression’’ 1
2 1971: A∆uence Challenged and Restored 23
3 1972: The Last Election of the 1960s 51
4 OPEC and the Trade Unionism of the Developing World 74
5 1975: ‘‘Capitalism Is on the Run’’ 101
6 1976: Morality and Economy 130
7 International Keynesianism in a Troubled World 154
8 Labor to Capital: Domestic Keynesianism on the Ropes 176
viii contents
9 From Virtuous Circle to Perfect Storm: Oil Crisis, II 205
10 1979–80: ‘‘The Gnomes of Zurich Got Their Way’’ 225
11 Age of Inequality 262
Notes 301
Index 357
preface
Ask people old enough to recollect the 1970s and they will amuse you
with tales of the flamboyant culture of garish clothes, big hair, and disco.
Some will recall the therapeutic culture of TM and Esalen. A few may
recount the experience of being ‘‘born again.’’ Many will remember the
political cynicism spawned by the Watergate scandal. And a number will
evoke the social strife over race and gender. Writers have followed popular
recollections. Some written accounts of the decade descend to kitsch,
whereas others contain interesting insights on sex, music, films, and
drugs.∞ But what do they add up to? Philip Jenkins portrayed a liberal
culture that assimilated the social movements of the 1960s, while Bruce
Schulman concluded that American culture became more southern, a
synonym for conservative. Still, Schulman’s depiction of ethnic, sexual,
race, and New Age ideas and movements made American culture seem
more sprawling than constricting. The film and music of the 1970s re-
vealed profound critiques of authority—notably Martin Scorcese’s Taxi
Driver (1976) and the Talking Heads. Country music was more ambig-
uous than Schulman made it out to be. Was Loretta Lynn’s ‘‘Coal Miner’s
Daughter’’ a conservative anthem, a reassertion of ‘‘southern chauvin-
ism,’’ as he claims?≤ Whatever we conclude, it is risky to deduce politics
from popular culture.
Historians often psychologize the decade’s conflicts. One book is