ABSTRACT
The War Industries Board (WIB) was now empowered to set production and distribution priorities, convert industries to new uses, coordinate government purchases and award no-bid contracts, build new plants, and fix prices for raw materials. When Elbert Gary of US Steel, along with other steel executives, refused to go along with WIB directive, Baruch issued an ultimatum: cooperate or their steel plants would be taken over by the government. Dismayed by the rightward shift in the country, a coalition of union, farmer-labor parties, and the Socialist Party formed the Conference for Progressive Political Action (CPPA). As the 1920s progressed, welfare capitalism continued to add to its array of voluntary practices. Together with the growth in corporate philanthropy, corporate social responsibility matured to the level where some now espoused a philosophy or "trusteeship", in which owners recognized that large corporations had important public obligations, especially for its primary stakeholders, i.e., employees and local communities.
