President's Conference on Unemployment
The President's Conference on Unemployment, convened by President Warren G. Harding in September 1921, was a response to the severe economic recession and rising unemployment, which peaked at 11.9 percent that year. In contrast to previous administrations that favored a laissez-faire approach, Harding's administration, influenced by Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, took a significant step by directly addressing unemployment through this conference. Over three hundred leaders from various sectors came together to propose voluntary measures aimed at reducing unemployment without resorting to direct federal financial aid. The conference's recommendations encouraged businesses and individuals to engage in construction and repairs, rotate jobs with unemployed workers, and enhance public works projects. Additionally, it advocated for local committees to assist in job placements. While the economic situation improved by the end of 1922, the exact impact of the conference on this recovery remains uncertain. Nevertheless, it marked a turning point in federal involvement in economic issues, laying groundwork for future initiatives such as the New Deal during the Great Depression. The conference reflects an early example of cooperative action between the government and private sectors in addressing economic challenges.
President's Conference on Unemployment
The Event: A conference convened in response to the 1921 recession and the resultant high rate of unemployment
Date: September 26–October 13, 1921
Place: Washington, D.C.
Upon taking office in 1921, President Warren G. Harding was faced with an economic recession and growing unemployment. At the behest of Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, Harding convened the President’s Conference on Unemployment. Though the conference emphasized voluntary measures by business and communities, it marked the first time the federal government had undertaken direct action to reduce unemployment.
When President Warren G. Harding took office in early 1921, he inherited an economic recession with steep unemployment rates, which rose to 11.9 percent that same year. Harding’s predecessors had maintained a primarily laissez-faire economic policy, rejecting the idea of government intervention in an economic downturn in favor of market-generated recovery. By contrast, Harding’s secretary of commerce, Herbert Hoover, argued that the federal government should take action to alleviate unemployment. Hoover recommended holding a national conference to address the issue, and the president agreed.
On September 26, 1921, Harding gathered over three hundred leaders in labor, business, and academia to focus on proposing new measures to decrease unemployment. President Harding and Secretary Hoover emphatically maintained that they would not fight unemployment by opening the public treasury and directly providing monetary aid. Instead, they intended for the conference to emphasize voluntary and cooperative action by businesses, individuals, and local communities.
Once approved by President Harding, the conference’s final recommendations were issued to the public. These included encouragement for businesses and individuals to move ahead with any plans for construction or repairs, rather than waiting for market improvement, and for businesses and their employees to voluntarily rotate individual jobs with unemployed workers. It also called for an increase in, and acceleration of, public works projects and encouraged the creation of voluntary state and local committees tasked with assisting individuals in finding employment. Secretary Hoover used independent labor organizations and facets of the Department of Commerce to disseminate reports of communities that successfully implemented the recommendations, encourage the public to help the unemployed through individual good works, and bolster an optimistic attitude throughout the country.
Impact
By the end of 1922, the market had improved significantly, and the immediate unemployment crisis had abated. The extent to which the economic upturn is attributable to the Conference on Unemployment is unclear. However, although it emphasized voluntary measures, the federal government’s unprecedented policy of taking direct action to fight unemployment laid the foundation for the more expansive New Deal policies ushered in by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Bibliography
Murray, Robert K. The Harding Era: Warren G. Harding and His Administration. Newtown, Conn.: American Political Biography Press, 2000.
Rothbard, Murray N. America’s Great Depression.5th ed.Auburn, Ala.: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2000.
Wilson, Joan Hoff. Herbert Hoover: Forgotten Progressive. Reprint. Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press, 1992.