A Consumers Republic Summary

Lizabeth Cohen’s book A Consumers’ Republic discusses how politicians, labor, and others supported the Keynesian approach to stimulate the economy after the war. Throughout her narrative she mentions the term “Keynesian”, but fails to fully explain the true meaning of the term. Instead, she describes how politicians, economists, labor, and other supported “full employment at high wages; big markets for high-volume, low unit-cost production of goods, and whatever government intervention was needed to sustain mass purchasing power.” Cohen initially describes how, in the 1950s, consumer spending increased with the purchases of homes, automobiles, household furnishings and appliances. These increases encourage Americans to save less, …show more content…
She describes how returning vets retook their positions in the factories and places of industry previously held by women. The educational G.I. Bill encouraged veterans to attend schools. In an effort to accommodate these veterans, schools scaled back female admissions. “Many medical and engineering schools that had begun to admitting women for the first time during the war now slammed the door in their faces.” Cohen describes the expansion of the income tax and the new use of filing jointly. Prior to the use of joint returns, income splitting was a tax-reducing advantage and states had to convert to a community-property system, “but the alternative of a joint federal tax return proved much more attractive to patriarchal lawmakers seeking tax reductions in that it offered tax relief to couples without requiring husbands to share legal rights to income and property with their wives, as stipulated with community property.” The new tax code favored household where the wife did not work. The added income did not offset the cost of housekeeping, child care, a fewer deductions. With the advent of credit cards, married women were unable to apply for their own cards. They received cards under their husband’s names, which limited their ability to establish their own line of credit. This was further aggravated when the marriage ended in divorce or death of the husband, as the husbands took all of the credit standing with them. The spouse with no credit standing was declared a “poor risk” by lending agencies. Also, in magazines, sales ads, and television sitcoms the focal point was to reestablish the social norm of husbands as the breadwinner and decision maker in the home and the wife took care of the house and raising the children. Sitcoms, such as, I Love Lucy, Donna Reed Show, Ozzie and Harriet, Father Knows Best,