Ruth Ellen Wasem Speaks at LBJ School Brown Bag Series

On Friday, November 22^nd, Director Dr. Chris King introduced Ruth Ellen Wasem, guest speaker at an LBJ School’s Brown Bag series event sponsored by the Ray Marshall Center.   Ms. Wasem is a Specialist in the Domestic Social Policy Division of the Congressional Research Service and Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, Washington Program.  Wasem’s talk, “ Tackling Unemployment: Lessons for Today from the Employment Act of 1946”, drew from her recently published a book titled, “Tackling Unemployment; the Legislative Dynamics of the Employment Act of 1946.”

In her presentation, Wasem spoke to how the sweeping legislation that resulted from a post-war consensus surrounding the belief that full-employment was the central piece to achieving the American dream was passed through congress and signed by the president. She then went on to tie comparisons between the issues that American society grappled with then to those that we face today.