Skip to main content

Kennedy’s New Frontier: Tax Cuts and Wage Policy

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
  • 236 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter will investigate Kennedy’s approach to economics through a review of speeches he made and his Economic Reports. In his first Economic Report, he used the hybrid system of redistributive economics to formulate policies to end the recession that he inherited as president. When those policies did not cause the economy to grow fast enough, Kennedy evolved his policies to a tax cut that was a combination of Keynesian economics and conservative supply-side thinking.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Kennedy, 1961b.

  2. 2.

    Dillon, 1985, p. 128; Heller, 1985, pp. 146 and 148.

  3. 3.

    Kennedy, 1960c.

  4. 4.

    Kennedy, 1960a.

  5. 5.

    Democratic Party Platforms, 1960.

  6. 6.

    Nordlund, 1997, p. 99.

  7. 7.

    Kennedy, 1960b.

  8. 8.

    Nordlund, 1997, p. 80.

  9. 9.

    Saulnier, 1991, p. 162.

  10. 10.

    Damms, 2016, pp. 7–12. See also McClenahanm and Beder, 2011, p. xi.

  11. 11.

    Eisenhower, 1954b.

  12. 12.

    Eisenhower, 1954c.

  13. 13.

    Burns, 1946, p. 4.

  14. 14.

    Burns, 1946, p. 10.

  15. 15.

    Eisenhower, 1954a, p. 51.

  16. 16.

    Eisenhower, 1954a, p. 96.

  17. 17.

    Eisenhower, 1954a, pp. 77–79.

  18. 18.

    Eisenhower, 1954a, p. 102.

  19. 19.

    Lumer, 1954, p. 198.

  20. 20.

    Hansen, 1954, pp. 258–259.

  21. 21.

    O’Reilly, 1954, p. 8.

  22. 22.

    American Federationist, 1954a, pp. 5–6; Brown, 1954, pp. 10–11. See also Shishkin, 1954a, p. 4; 1954b, pp. 3–4; Meany, 1954, p. 14.

  23. 23.

    CIO News, 1953a, p. 3.

  24. 24.

    CIO News, 1953b, p. 3; 1953c, p. 5; 1954a, p. 2.

  25. 25.

    CIO News, 1954b, p. 3. See also CIO News, 1954c, p. 3; 1953b, p. 3; 1953c, p. 5; 1954a, p. 2.

  26. 26.

    CIO News, 1955, pp. 6–7.

  27. 27.

    American Federationist, 1954b, p. 3.

  28. 28.

    Meany, 1956a, pp. 4–5; 1956b, pp. 16–17; Cruikshank, 1956a, pp. 7–9; 1956b, pp. 20–21; Gray, 1956, p. 11.

  29. 29.

    American Federationist, 1959, p. 7.

  30. 30.

    Hansen, 1947, p. 73.

  31. 31.

    Hansen, 1960, pp. 44–45.

  32. 32.

    Hansen, 1964 [1951], p. 545.

  33. 33.

    Hansen, 1960, pp. 140 and 148.

  34. 34.

    Hansen, 1960, p. 33.

  35. 35.

    Hansen, 1960, pp. 37–38.

  36. 36.

    Phelps, 1948, pp. 585–590.

  37. 37.

    Hansen, 1960, pp. 105–106.

  38. 38.

    Hansen, 1960, pp. 33–34.

  39. 39.

    Kennedy, 1960d. Kennedy’s Secretary of the Treasury, Douglas Dillon, doubted that the speech, which was published in The New York Times, was ever delivered. Dillon, 1985, p. 128.

  40. 40.

    Kennedy, 1960d.

  41. 41.

    American Federationist, 1960, p. 15.

  42. 42.

    American Federationist, 1960, pp. 19–20.

  43. 43.

    American Federationist, 1960, pp. 14–15.

  44. 44.

    Heller, 1950, pp. 532–533.

  45. 45.

    Kennedy, 1961c, is the source of the above material.

  46. 46.

    Kennedy, 1962a, p. 3.

  47. 47.

    Kennedy, 1962a, p. 4.

  48. 48.

    Kennedy, 1962a, pp. 4–5.

  49. 49.

    Kennedy, 1962a, p. 6.

  50. 50.

    Kennedy, 1962a, p. 8.

  51. 51.

    Kennedy, 1962a, pp. 16–17.

  52. 52.

    Kennedy, 1962a, pp. 9–10.

  53. 53.

    Kennedy, 1962a, pp. 20–21.

  54. 54.

    Kennedy, 1962a, pp. 11–12.

  55. 55.

    Kennedy, 1962a, p. 27.

  56. 56.

    CEA, 1962, p. 37.

  57. 57.

    CEA, 1962, p. 39.

  58. 58.

    CEA, 1962, pp. 44–47. The estimate of four percent unemployment as kept inflation in check was consistent with an estimate derived from a Phillips curve for the USA by Samuelson and Solow, 1960, pp. 191–192.

  59. 59.

    CEA, 1962, pp. 57 and 63–66.

  60. 60.

    Stein, 1994, pp. 80–81.

  61. 61.

    CEA, 1962, p. 89.

  62. 62.

    CEA, 1962, pp. 101–103.

  63. 63.

    CEA, 1962, p. 174.

  64. 64.

    CEA, 1962, pp. 185–186.

  65. 65.

    CEA, 1962, pp. 189–190.

  66. 66.

    JEC, 1962, pp. 8–9.

  67. 67.

    JEC, 1962, p. 43.

  68. 68.

    JEC, 1962, p. 43.

  69. 69.

    JEC, 1962, p. 59.

  70. 70.

    JEC, 1962, p. 64.

  71. 71.

    JEC, 1962, p. 71.

  72. 72.

    JEC, 1962, p. 72.

  73. 73.

    Kudlow and Domitrovic, 2016, pp. 145–146.

  74. 74.

    Kates, 2016, p. 129.

  75. 75.

    Mellon, 1924.

  76. 76.

    Sowell, 2012, pp. 71–137.

  77. 77.

    Kudlow and Domitrovic, 2016, pp. 750–878.

  78. 78.

    Kennedy, 1962b.

  79. 79.

    Kennedy, 1962c.

  80. 80.

    Kennedy, 1963a, pp. ix–x.

  81. 81.

    Kennedy, 1963a, pp. xii–xiii.

  82. 82.

    Kennedy, 1963a, pp. xiii–xiv.

  83. 83.

    Kennedy, 1963a, p. xiv.

  84. 84.

    Kennedy, 1963a, pp. xviii–xix.

  85. 85.

    Kennedy, 1963a, p. xxiii.

  86. 86.

    CEA, 1963, pp. 15–17.

  87. 87.

    CEA, 1963, p. 32.

  88. 88.

    CEA, 1963, pp. 84–86.

  89. 89.

    JEC, 1963, p. 2.

  90. 90.

    JEC, 1963, p. 11.

  91. 91.

    JEC, 1963, pp. 45–55.

  92. 92.

    Kudlow and Domitrovic, 2016, pp. 1610–1985.

  93. 93.

    Kudlow and Domitrovic, 2016, p. 500.

  94. 94.

    Hansen, 1964 [1951], p. viii, italics in the original.

  95. 95.

    Hansen, 1964 [1951], p. viii.

  96. 96.

    Hansen, 1964 [1951], pp. 646–647.

  97. 97.

    Hansen, 1964 [1951], p. 654.

  98. 98.

    Hansen, 1964 [1951], p. 658.

  99. 99.

    Hansen, 1964 [1951], p. 655.

  100. 100.

    Sowell, 2012, p, 136.

  101. 101.

    Stein, 1994, pp. 108–110.

  102. 102.

    New Republic, 1962a, pp. 1 and 3.

  103. 103.

    Kraft, 1962, pp. 12–13.

  104. 104.

    New Republic, 1962b, pp. 3–4.

  105. 105.

    New Republic, 1962b, p. 4.

  106. 106.

    New Republic, 1963a, p. 5.

  107. 107.

    New Republic, 1963b, p. 3.

  108. 108.

    Altman, 1963, pp. 137–138.

  109. 109.

    Dorner, 1963, pp. 171–173.

  110. 110.

    Kennedy, 1961a, pp. 12–13.

  111. 111.

    American Federationist, 1961a, pp. 17–19.

  112. 112.

    American Federationist, 1961b, pp. 17–18.

  113. 113.

    American Federationist, 1961c, p. 26.

  114. 114.

    American Federationist, 1962a, p. 11.

  115. 115.

    American Federationist, 1962b, pp. 12–13.

  116. 116.

    American Federationist, 1962c, p. 17.

  117. 117.

    American Federationist, 1962d, pp. 17–19.

  118. 118.

    American Federationist, 1963a, pp. 14–17.

  119. 119.

    American Federationist, 1963b, pp. 18–20 and 1963c, p. 13.

  120. 120.

    Meany, 1962, inside front cover.

  121. 121.

    Kennedy, 1963b, pp. 8–9.

References

  • Altman, George T. 1963. The Tax-Cut Mirage. Nation 196 (February 16): 137–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Federationist. 1954a. The Executive Council Acts. American Federationist 61 (February): 3–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1954b. Labor Continues the Struggle for a Minimum Wage of $1.25. American Federationist 62 (July): 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1959. The Fight Against Jobs for All. American Federationist 66 (December): 7.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1960. Meany, Kennedy Discuss the 1960 Election Issues. American Federationist 67 (November): 12–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1961a. Labor’s Goals for a Better America. American Federationist 68 (February): 17–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1961b. America’s Potential for Economic Growth. American Federationist 68 (July): 14–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1961c. The Priorities of Tax Relief: People or Property. American Federationist 68 (July): 26–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——— 1962a. The National Economy. American Federationist 69 (January): 10–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1962b. Tax Policy and the Budget. American Federationist 69 (January): 12–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1962c. Wages and Hours. American Federationist 69 (January): 16–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1962d. Lagging Job Recovery Demands Bold Measures. American Federationist 69 (March): 12–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1963a. The Positive Role of Fiscal Policy. American Federationist 70 (January): 1–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1963b. Fair Taxes and Full Employment. American Federationist 70 (February): 14–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1963c. Needed: Tax Cuts to Create Jobs. American Federationist 70 (July): 18–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, George T. 1954. Which Way to Prosperity. American Federationist 61 (February): 10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burns, Arthur F. 1946. Economic Research and the Keynesian Thinking of Our Times. New York. National Bureau of Economic Research 26th Annual Report: 1–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • CIO News. 1953a. Ike Writes Reuther, Pledges Job Action. CIO News 16 (April 17): 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1953b. Higher Wages Are Key to Prosperity. CIO News 16 (June 29): 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1953c. Consumers Need Shot in Arm to Prevent Economic Headaches. CIO News 16 (October 5): 5.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1954a. Reuther Predicts Gains for Labor in 1954. CIO News 17 (January 2): 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1954b. Balance Wheel of Spending, Taxes Will Help Keep Prosperity. CIO News 17 (January 18): 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1954c. CIO Urges Tax Cuts to Aid Consumers. CIO News 17 (February 15): 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1955. Call for an Economic Bill of Rights. CIO News 18 (April 4): 6–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). 1962. Annual Report of the Council of Economic Advisers. January 20. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/economic_reports/1962.pdf. Accessed January 17, 2017.

  • ———. 1963. Annual Report of the Council of Economic Advisers. January. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/economic_reports/1963.pdf. Accessed February 7, 2017.

  • Cruikshank, Nelson H. 1956a. The People Want H.R. 7225. American Federationist 63 (May): 7–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1956b. This Battle We Won. American Federationist 63 (September): 20–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Damms, Richard. 2016. The Eisenhower Presidency, 1953–1961. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Democratic Party Platforms. 1960. 1960 Democratic Party Platform. July 11. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=29602. Accessed January 26, 2017.

  • Dillon, C. Douglas. 1985. The Kennedy Presidency: The Economic Dimension. In The Kennedy Presidency: Seventeen Intimate Perspectives of John F. Kennedy, ed. Kenneth W. Thompson, 127–144. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorner, Peter. 1963. Tax Cut: A Dissenting View. Nation 197 (September 28): 171–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenhower, Dwight D. 1954a. Economic Report of the President. January 28: 1–114. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/economic_reports/1954.pdf. Accessed November 16, 2016.

  • ———. 1954b. Radio and Television Address to the American People on the State of the Nation. April 5. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=10201. Accessed November 29, 2016.

  • ———. 1954c. Statement by the President Upon Signing Bill to Extend and Improve the Unemployment Insurance Program. September 1. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=10026. Accessed November 29, 2016.

  • Gray, Richard J. 1956. Victory for Labor. American Federationist 63 (September): 11–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, Alvin H. 1947. “The First Reports Under the Employment Act of 1946,” in “Two Discussions of the Employment Act of 1946 and Its Early Operation”. Review of Economics and Statistics 29 (May): 69–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1954. Our Current Economic Dilemma. Review of Economics and Statistics. 36 (August): 258–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1960. Economic Issues of the 1960s. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1964 [1951]. Business Cycles and National Income. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heller, Walter W. 1950. The Role of Fiscal-Monetary Policy in German Economic Recovery. The American Economic Review 40. Papers and Proceedings of the Sixty-Second Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association (May): 531–547.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1985. John F. Kennedy and the Economy. In The Kennedy Presidency: Seventeen Intimate Perspectives of John F Kennedy, ed. Kenneth W. Thompson, 145–160. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joint Economic Committee (JEC). 1962. Report of the Joint Committee on the Economic Report on the January 1962 Economic Report of the President. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1963. Report of the Joint Committee on the Economic Report on the January 1963 Economic Report of the President. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kates, Steven. 2016. The Dangers of Keynesian Economics. In What’s Wrong with Keynesian Economic Theory? ed. Steven Kates, 123–149. Cheltenham, UK, and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, John F. 1960a. Address of Senator John F. Kennedy Accepting the Democratic Party Nomination for the Presidency of the United States. July 15. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=25966. Accessed January 15, 2017.

  • ———. 1960b. Fair Labor Standards Speech by Senator John F. Kennedy, Delivered in the Senate. August 10. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=25746. Accessed January 16, 2017.

  • ———. 1960c. Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy, Municipal Auditorium, Canton, Ohio. September 27. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=74231. Accessed January 26, 2017.

  • ———. 1960d. Speech by Senator John F. Kennedy, Convention Hall, Philadelphia, PA. October 31. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=74316. Accessed January 21, 2017.

  • ———. 1961a. Labor Is a Stalwart Group in the Public Interest. American Federationist 68 (January): 12–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1961b. Inaugural Address. January 20. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8032. Accessed January 20, 2017.

  • ———. 1961c. Special Message to the Congress: Program for Economic Recovery and Growth. February 2. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8111. Accessed January 22, 2017.

  • ———. 1962a. Economic Report of the President. January 20. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/economic_reports/1962.pdf. Accessed January 17, 2017.

  • ———. 1962b. Radio and Television Report to the American People on the State of the National Economy. August 13. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8812. Accessed January 30, 2017.

  • ———. 1962c. Address and Question and Answer Period at the Economic Club of New York. December 14. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=905. Accessed January 30, 2017.

  • ———. 1963a. Economic Report of the President. January 20. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley. The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/economic_reports/1962.pdf. Accessed January 26, 2017.

  • ———. 1963b. Kennedy Appeals to Job Growth to Promote Freedom. American Federationist 70 (December): 8–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kraft, Joseph. 1962. Economics of the New Frontier. New Republic 147 (October 20): 12–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kudlow, Lawrence, and Brian Domitrovic. 2016. JFK and the Reagan Revolution: A Secret History of American Prosperity. New York: Penguin Random House. Amazon Kindle Edition.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lumer, Wilfred. 1954. Too Little Too Late. Nation 178 (March 6): 198–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClenahanm, William, Jr., and William H. Beder. 2011. Eisenhower and the Cold War Economy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meany, George. 1954. Editorials. American Federationist 61 (June): 16–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1956a. What Congress Ought to Do. American Federationist 63 (February): 3–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1956b. Editorial. American Federationist 63 (June): 16–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1962. VOTE—To Move America Forward. American Federationist 69 (October): Inside Front Cover and 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mellon, Andrew W. 1924. Taxation: The People’s Business. New York: Macmillan Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • New Republic. 1962a. The Week. New Republic 147 (July 16): 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1962b. The Week. New Republic 147 (December 29): 3–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1963a. The Week. New Republic 148 (January 26): 3–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1963b. The Week. New Republic 148 (March 2): 3–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nordlund, Willis J. 1997. The Quest for a Living Wage: The History of the Federal Minimum Wage Program. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Reilly, Harry E. 1954. Let’s Organize in 1954. American Federationist 61 (January): 8–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phelps, Orme W. 1948. Collective Bargaining, Keynesian Model. The American Economic Review 38 (September): 581–597.

    Google Scholar 

  • Samuelson, Paul A., and Robert M. Solow. 1960. Analytical Aspects of Anti-Inflation Policy. American Economic Review 50. Papers and Proceedings of the Seventy-Second Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association (May): 177–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saulnier, Raymond J. 1991. Constructive Years: The U.S. Economy Under Eisenhower. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shishkin, Boris. 1954a. What’s Ahead? American Federationist 61 (March): 3–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1954b. Let Us Grow. American Federationist 61 (April): 3–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sowell, Thomas. 2012. “Trickle Down” Theory and “Tax Cuts for the Rich”. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press. Amazon Kindle Edition.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stein, Herbert. 1994. Presidential Economics: The Making of Economic Policy from Roosevelt to Clinton. Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Stabile, D.R. (2018). Kennedy’s New Frontier: Tax Cuts and Wage Policy. In: Macroeconomic Policy and a Living Wage. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01998-3_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01998-3_6

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-01997-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-01998-3

  • eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics