Howard B. Myers

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Howard B. Myers (February 13, 1901 – March 9, 1956) was an American statistician and economist who held executive posts with several agencies during the New Deal. His work was key in developing the techniques used to measure unemployment. [1]

New Deal Economic programs of U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt

The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1936. It responded to needs for relief, reform, and recovery from the Great Depression. Major federal programs included the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Farm Security Administration (FSA), the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933 (NIRA) and the Social Security Administration (SSA). They provided support for farmers, the unemployed, youth and the elderly. The New Deal included new constraints and safeguards on the banking industry and efforts to re-inflate the economy after prices had fallen sharply. New Deal programs included both laws passed by Congress as well as presidential executive orders during the first term of the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Unemployment when people are without work and actively seeking work

Unemployment or joblessness is a situation in which able-bodied people who are looking for a job cannot find a job.

Contents

Family and education

Myers was born in Knoxville, Iowa in 1901. He earned his undergraduate degree from Washburn University in 1923 where he was a member of the Kansas Beta Chapter of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. In 1922 he was inducted with five other juniors into the school's prestigious Sagamore Society. [2] From Washburn he went to the University of Chicago where he earned a doctorate in economics.

Knoxville, Iowa City in Iowa, United States

Knoxville is a city in Marion County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,313 at the 2010 census, a decrease from 7,731 in the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marion County. Knoxville is home of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum, located next to the famous Knoxville Raceway dirt track.

Washburn University university

Washburn University (WU) is a co-educational, public institution of higher learning in Topeka, Kansas, United States. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,100 undergraduate students and nearly 800 graduate students. The university's assets include a $158 million endowment.

Phi Delta Theta fraternity

Phi Delta Theta (ΦΔΘ), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad. The fraternity has about 185 active chapters and colonies in over 43 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces and has initiated more than 251,000 men between 1848 and 2014. There are over 160,000 living alumni. Phi Delta Theta chartered house corporations own more than 135 houses valued at over $141 million as of summer 2015. There are nearly 100 recognized alumni clubs across the U.S. and Canada.

In 1927 Myers married Bernice Curry. Together they had three children, Ann Curry, Howard Barton and Robert Burris. All three of Myers' brothers, Robert, Donald and Louis, were graduates of Washburn where all three were also members of Phi Delta Theta.

Early career

Myers worked as a research assistant at the University of Chicago from 1923 to 1927. Then, after being awarded his PhD, he was an assistant professor there for two years.

In 1929, he left Chicago to become the director of research and statistics for the Illinois State Labor Department. With the Great Depression weighing on the economy, in 1932 he added a second state position when he assumed a role with Illinois State Emergency Relief Commission.

Great Depression 20th-century worldwide economic depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place mostly during the 1930s, beginning in the United States. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations; in most countries it started in 1929 and lasted until the late-1930s. It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. In the 21st century, the Great Depression is commonly used as an example of how intensely the world's economy can decline.

Government service

Myers left Illinois in 1933 to join FDR's New Deal. According to Dr. Myer's obituary in the New York Times, his appointment was unusual because of his free market ideals. "Through the years he held firm to the belief that 'government controls over the economy are undesirable except in periods of sudden and grave emergency.' Sound budgetary policy...was far more effective than Government controls over prices, production, wages and profits."

His first posting was as assistant director in charge of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. He was next assistant director in charge of social research at the Works Progress Administration. In 1942, with World War II raging, Myers served as assistant chief of the Works Progress Administrations' munitions branch.

Federal Emergency Relief Administration

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) was the new name given by the Roosevelt Administration to the Emergency Relief Administration (ERA) which President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had created in 1933. FERA was established as a result of the Federal Emergency Relief Act and was replaced in 1935 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

Works Progress Administration largest and most ambitious United States federal government New Deal agency

The Works Progress Administration was an American New Deal agency, employing millions of people to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads. It was established on May 6, 1935, by Executive Order 7034. In a much smaller project, Federal Project Number One, the WPA employed musicians, artists, writers, actors and directors in large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects. The four projects dedicated to these were: the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP), the Historical Records Survey (HRS), the Federal Theatre Project (FTP), the Federal Music Project (FMP), and the Federal Art Project (FAP). In the Historical Records Survey, for instance, many former slaves in the South were interviewed; these documents are of great importance for American history. Theater and music groups toured throughout America, and gave more than 225,000 performances. Archaeological investigations under the WPA were influential in the rediscovery of pre-Columbian Native American cultures, and the development of professional archaeology in the US.

World War II 1939–1945 global war

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Post-government work

In 1943, Myers became affiliated with the Committee for Economic Development (CED). The CED is a private non-profit group of business and economic leaders encouraging policies that promote economic growth. In 1949, after six years as an associate director, he became the director of research. During his time as director, the CED helped American industry convert from its wartime footing to help meet the demands of the post-war economic boom.

The Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board (CED) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, business-led public policy organization. CED's Trustees consist primarily of senior corporate executives from a range of U.S. industries and sectors. CED's stated aims are to sustain and promote free enterprise, improve education and healthcare, reform campaign finance, enhance corporate governance, and improve the fiscal health of the United States.

Myers was a fellow of the American Statistical Association, a member of the American Economic Association and the American Industrial Labor Relations Association.

In March 1955, Myers died at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

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References

  1. ↑ Basic biographical facts obtained from Myers' obituary, "Howard B. Myers, Statistician, Dies" New York Times, March 10, 1956.
  2. ↑ See the history of Phi Delta Theta at Washburn University at http://phidelt.wikispaces.com/kansas+beta
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