A lesson or two from a regional economic argument

摘要

In his Commentary on how to survive the recession, 'Work for the greater good' (Nature 457, 959-960; 2009), Eric Rauchway discusses the role that science and technology had in improving living conditions in the Tennessee Valley in the 1930s. As a former staff historian for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), I would like to highlight factors debated then that could still be pertinent today. As Rauchway tells us, the innovative agricultural reform measures led by Harcourt Morgan helped to restore economic and environmental health to a segment of the country that had suffered for decades, long before the Depression. But there was controversy over the place of science and technology within the TVA's reform agenda, particularly between the other two TVA board members: David Lilienthal, a lawyer who had served on the Wisconsin public service commission, and Arthur Morgan (no relation to Harcourt), an engineer who had been president of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio.