Unemployment and fraud during the Great Depression in New Zealand

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Radiah Othman ◽  
Rashid Ameer
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
Extreme Condition ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
The People ◽  
Financial Crimes ◽  
The Unemployed ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
New Zealanders

Purpose This paper aims to provide a historical understanding of the unemployment context experienced by the New Zealand population during the Great Depression, which might have caused people to commit financial crimes, such as fraud, to survive. Design/methodology/approach The main source of information is narratives from newspaper articles published by 42 newspapers from 1931 to 1950 that explore New Zealanders’ experiences during declined economic conditions. Findings During the period studied, New Zealanders suffered because of various challenges, mainly unemployment. The government’s response was criticised by the people who used the newspapers as a medium to unleash their frustration about the fairness of unemployment relief for the unemployed and taxation of those who were employed. Some people who struggled in between jobs, as well as some who found themselves being disadvantaged, turned to deviant behaviour such as fraud. The fraudsters might be thought of as the victims of the day, committing a crime of survival, not a crime of choice. Research limitations/implications This research promotes more historical studies to enrich fraud-auditing literature. The lack of detailed information reported in the newspapers during this period limits making specific links to individual circumstances. Originality/value Fraudsters have always been perceived as responsible for their destinies, but a wider social and political context is rarely examined in fraud cases. The period chosen for this paper represents the extreme condition in which the elements of motive, opportunity and rationalisation are all interwoven into one.

Sāmoa’s Gethsemane (1930)

Tautai ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
Annual Report ◽  
Moral Character ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Business Operations ◽  
The Impact

This chapter explores the immediate aftermath of the Black Saturday Massacre through the experiences of Ta’isi. Though New Zealand forces tried to stop the Mau through exiling Ta’isi and then the killing Tupua Tamasese (which may have been intended or not) the Mau continued to disrupt New Zealand’s rule. The Women’s Mau, in which Rosabel played a prominent role, also came to the fore in 1930. Administrator Allen enraged these women, Ta’isi and Sāmoans generally, when he wrote in the annual report to the League of Nations that these women were of ‘light moral character’. The crisis of the Great Depression began to impact Sāmoa and for Ta’isi personally; his enforced absence from Sāmoa began to bite into his business operations. This chapter explores the New Zealand’s part in continuing attempts to publically damage Ta’isi’s status amongst Sāmoans. It also explores the impact on Ta’isi and the Mau with the death of Sir Māui Pōmare, who had been Samoa’s staunchest supporter.

A breakfast of champions: brand marketing lessons from the Great Depression

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 63-67
Author(s):  
Peter Buell Hirsch
Keyword(s):  
Great Depression ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Brand Marketing ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to examine whether the behavior of brands during the Great Depression held lessons for the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. Design/methodology/approach A review of brand marketing and advertising from the 1920s and 1930s. Findings There are many learnings from the Great Depression that are instructive for today’s brand marketers dealing with COVID-19. Research limitations/implications The review of the literature is not comprehensive and the findings are subjective. Practical implications Today’s brands can learn a great deal from the 1930s such as to take advantage of opportunities and avoid mistakes in today’s difficult environment. Social implications By handling today’s challenges skillfully, brands can refresh relationships with consumers overwhelmed with choices. Originality/value Though there was some commentary on this subject following the Great Recession of 2009, there has been little written about the lessons in brand marketing in the current situation.

scholarly journals ‘21st Century Welfare’ in Historical Perspective: Disciplinary Welfare in the Depression of the 1930s and Its Implications for Today

2020 ◽  
pp. 136078042093774
Author(s):  
Matthew Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Behavioural Regulation ◽  
The Unemployed

Since 2010, UK governments have intensified conditionality as part of a programme of ‘welfare reform’. Social scientists have undertaken much critical analysis but less attention has been paid to possible historical parallels. This article sheds new light on welfare reform through comparison with the depression of the 1930s. It undertakes a documentary analysis of policy in the 1930s informed by a governmentality perspective. In both periods, governments committed to liberal orthodoxies and feared the unemployed would become vulnerable to ‘demoralization’ and ‘dependency’; their behaviour and character were determinant of their rights to support. However, there are notable differences in what interventions have been considered appropriate. The article assesses the significance of continuities and contrasts, and argues in particular that the severity and ubiquity of behavioural regulation employed today is even greater than that seen in the ‘dark decade’ of the great depression.

WHY ECONOMIC GROWTH IS NEVER SUSTAINABLE

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivars Brīvers
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Economic Theory ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Steady State ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Global Crisis ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
The People ◽  
State Economy

The first decade of the XXI century clearly shows that the notion of the people concerning the values and goals in economy should be revised. As a result of global crisis economic theory may experience essential changes, as it was during the Great Depression in the XX century. The aim of the paper is to show the necessity of reconsidering the goals in economy. The hypothesis is that growth economy has become non-sustainable and it should be substituted by an economy of a different design – steady-state economy. The paper contains a review and analysis of various ideas about the problem, focusing mainly on the interpretation of the notion of sustainable development and the costs and benefits of economic growth; the way, how we measure things in economy and about the widespread illusions about the possibility of perpetual economic growth. The conclusion is that any growth, including economic growth is never sustainable.

scholarly journals The “Hidden Depression” that never really went away

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-40
Author(s):  
Anaru Eketone
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
19Th Century ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Late 19Th Century ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Catch Up ◽  
Serious Disease

Covid-19 is a unique conjunction of a serious disease pandemic coupled with a serious economic crisis. I took the opportunity during level four lockdown to catch up on some reading. Two books in particular discussed the previous two named depressions that Aotearoa New Zealand went through. Children of the Poor by John A. Lee (1973) dealt with poverty in Dunedin following the “Long Depression” of the late 19th century and The Slump by Tony Simpson (1990) looked at the lead-up to the “Great Depression”, its effects and its lasting legacy.

scholarly journals The Ultimate Fox in Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes

2018 ◽  
Vol 214 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-142
Author(s):  
Instructor Marwa Ghazi Mohammed
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Political Ideas ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
The People ◽  
Human Value ◽  
American Society ◽  
Moral Themes

         Lillian Hellman was an American playwright whose name was associated with the moral values of the early twentieth century. Her plays were remarkable for the moral themes that dealt with the evil. They were distinguished, as well, for the depiction of characters who are still alive in the American drama for their vivid personalities, effective roles and realistic portrayal. This paper studies Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes as a criticism of the American society in the early twentieth-century. Though America was a country built on hopes and dreams of freedom and happiness. During the Great Depression, happiness was certainly not present in many people's lives. The presence of alternate political ideas, decay of love and values increased life's problems, and considered a stress inducing factor were popular themes to be explored during the Great Depression. America, the land of promises, became an empty world revolving around money and material well-being and which turned the people bereft of love, and human values. Hellman’s play presents the real fox, represented by the political and material world, as the one responsible for the raise of new kind of people, the little foxes, and the decline of human value.

scholarly journals Visual Histories: Amateur Film in New Zealand c.1923-1970

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jane Paul
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Valuable Source ◽  
Home Movies ◽  
Political Films ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
Working Alone ◽  
Amateur Film ◽  
New Zealanders

<p>Many ordinary New Zealanders made amateur films between c.1923-1970. This thesis explores the types of films they made; home movies, community films and films made by members of amateur cine clubs. The discussion focuses on the making, showing and viewing of each of these types of films. Some were shown in private home or club situations, while other films were shown publicly. As a group of films and film practises they offer a valuable source of information on social and cultural history. Their construction differs from orthodox professional film and offers important alternate views of New Zealand society. The sub-genre of amateur film are numerous. Films discussed include newsreels and scripted narrative drama made by amateur cine club members either working alone or in groups. Others under discussion are local films, political films, mountaineering films, educational, instructional and promotional film. The influences on amateur filmmaking are considered: camera company marketing and amateur film manuals, the international amateur film movement and the competition focused cine club culture. The thesis uses four main collections to discuss aspects of amateur filmmaking. These are the films of James Osler of Wairoa, Frederick Thorn of Waiuta, Amos James Smith of Rangiora and Nancy Cameron of Whanganui, all held at the New Zealand Film Archive, Wellington.</p>

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