The campaign for a federal fleet corporation -- The creation of the federal land banks -- Municipalities struggle to meet new needs -- The truncated career of autonomous federal agencies -- The federal government promotes public authorities -- Public authorities since the Second World War --...

Americans have a love-hate relationship with government. Rejecting bureaucracy--but not the goods and services the welfare state provides--Americans have demanded that government be made to run like a business. Hence today's privatization revolution. But as Jon D. Michaels shows, separating the...