Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978 (Humphrey-Hawkins)
October 1978
This amendment to the Employment Act of 1946 was signed in October 27, 1978, by President Jimmy Carter, establishing new goals for the nation’s economic policymakers.
Senator Muriel Humphrey shakes hands with President Jimmy Carter after the signing
of the Humphrey-Hawkins Act (Photo: Associated Press)
The Employment Act of 1946 stated that it is the responsibility of the federal government to create “conditions under which there will be afforded useful employment for those able, willing, and seeking work, and to promote maximum employment, production, and purchasing power.” In a 1976 hearing, Sen. Hubert Humphrey commented, “It is my judgment that that law has, from time to time, been conveniently ignored”. He wanted to adopt legislation that would enumerate more explicit employment goals, and if those goals were not met, to have the government provide jobs to achieve the target. Humphrey also wished to give the executive branch a greater role in the execution of monetary policy: The president would submit his recommendations for monetary policy, and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors would have to respond within fifteen days to explain any proposed deviation. Neither proposal passed, but Humphrey and his colleague in the House, Augustus Hawkins, continued to push for similar legislation. In 1977, the Federal Reserve Act was amended to instruct the Fed to pursue three goals: stable prices, maximum employment, and moderate long-term interest rates, though the last of those three objectives is rarely mentioned now in policy discussions and the Fed is widely viewed as having only a “dual mandate.”
Humphrey died in January 1978, but later that year the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act, better known as the Humphrey-Hawkins Act, amended the Employment Act of 1946 and was signed into law by President Carter. The Humphrey-Hawkins Act contained numerous objectives. Among them, unemployment should not exceed 3 percent for people 20 years or older, and inflation should be reduced to 3 percent or less, provided that its reduction would not interfere with the employment goal. And by 1988, the inflation rate should be zero, again provided that pursuing this goal would not interfere with the employment goal.
Hawkins died in 2007; the bill's other author, Minnesota Senator Humphrey - a former Democratic vice president and 1968 presidential nominee - died in 1978 before the measure was approved.
休伯特·霍拉蒂奥·汉弗莱（Hubert Horatio Humphrey，1911-1978），美国政治家，第38任美国副总统，明尼苏达州联邦参议员，在国会中，汉弗莱常常插足大多数参议员不敢涉入的领域。他那打抱不平的性格，使他对许多事情都看不惯，总想去说些什么。一次，当有人问他为什么总爱对所以问题发表评语时，他解释说：“我确实对所有问题都感兴趣，可它们都像坚果一样，我毫无办法。”
