Louisiana Petro-Populism and public services in the city of New Orleans

1. Louisiana Petro-Populism and public services in the city of New Orleans • By Brian Marks and Christian Roselund

2. Huey Long, 1893-1935

3. What is petro-populism? • A political system whose primary feature is the redistribution of oil and gas revenues through one or more means for the benefit of the general population • Term first coined by journalist and author Christian Parenti to describe the Chavista regime in Venezuela • Longite Petro-Populism is an oil production/ votes/ public services deal between big oil companies, Longite political leaders and the masses in the state of Louisiana.

4. The role of public services in the city of New Orleans • Services such as public schools, Charity Hospitals and housing under-girded the social reproduction of New Orleans residents • In the early decades, public housing provides a quality of life not otherwise available to many urban residents • Increased the productivity of New Orleans residents • Public funding for such services was particularly important for New Orleans as an economically under-developed city with high, persistent poverty

5. Longite Petro-Populism and the New Deal • Longite Petro-Populism: • Predates the New Deal (first major features established in 1928) • Is an influence on the New Deal via the roads programs, “Share Our Wealth”, and political threat that Huey Long posed to Roosevelt. • Becomes a regional variant on the New Deal after the Death of Huey Long and the basic political economy of the state of Louisiana

6. The New Deal Based on a manufacturing economy Wages/productivity deal Unions mediate between working people, corporations and the state Longite Petro-Populism and the New Deal contrasted Longite Petro-Populism • Based on a resource extraction economy • Public services/votes deal • Direct connection between charismatic leader and the masses

7. Outputs Education (largely through severance taxes) Roads and bridges Charity hospitals State old age pensions Welfare systems Petro-populism: inputs and outputs • Inputs • Oil and gas severance taxes • Gasoline tax • Other taxes • Bonds • Federal money (after death of Huey Long)

8. Petro-populism: outputs for New Orleans New Orleans is a primary beneficiary of Longite Petro-Populism • Education: Including textbooks, adult literacy, UNO, LSU medical school, scholarships, teacher pay increases and equalization. • Public hospitals: Funding for Charity, medical training, associated services • Old age pensions: Increased to $50/month under Earl Long in 1948 • Welfare programs: Including free school lunches

9. The special case of public housing • Public Housing is not a Longite promise or concept, but a product of the New Deal • New Orleans receives a large share of federal funds for public housing, and these funds are used swiftly by the Longite Maestri Administration • Fits into the scheme of Longite public services (votes for services), but on a federal level

10. Crisis of race 1960- • Longite petro-populism is a system that provides services to all state residents, but those services are profoundly unequal on racial lines • This becomes unacceptable in the post-war period • Public services - schools, hospitals and housing – are a primary battleground of integration and equality • Longite petro-populism is class-based and race-neutral, which does not hold up during a time of heightened racial tension • Whites de-invest from the city and public services regime starting in the late 1960's

11. Frantz Elementary, 1960

12. Crisis of oil production 1970- • Mineral wealth, both in production and consumer forms, is the primary fuel of petro-populism • Louisiana fails to obtain its share of the OCS oil wealth, starting in 1948 • Oil and gas production in Louisiana land and state waters peaks in 1970 and declines steadily thereafter • Prices fall 1984-1986, leading to a collapse of the system and a fiscal crisis in Louisiana