The Economic Stabilization Agency (ESA) was an agency of the

United States Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

that existed from 1950 to 1953. The creation of the ESA was authorized by the

Defense Production Act The Defense Production Act (DPA) of 1950 () is a United States federal law enacted on September 8, 1950, in response to the start of the Korean War.Congressional Research ServiceThe Defense Production Act of 1950: History, Authorities, and Con ...

(, 64 Stat. 798), which was signed into law by

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

on September 8, 1950.General Records of the Economic Stabilization Agency at the National Archives
/ref> The Defense Production Act was passed in response to the start of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

and authorized the President to control the civilian economy so that scarce and/or critical materials necessary to the national defense effort are available for defense needs."The Defense Production Act: Choice as to Allocations," ''Columbia Law Review,'' March 1951; Lockwood, ''Defense Production Act: Purpose and Scope,'' June 22, 2001. On September 9, 1950, President Truman signed the

Executive Order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of the ...

10161, thus creating the ESA. The ESA was responsible for imposing

price ceilings A price ceiling is a government- or group-imposed price control, or limit, on how high a price is charged for a product, commodity, or service. Governments use price ceilings to protect consumers from conditions that could make commodities prohi ...

and

wage controls Incomes policies in economics are economy-wide wage and price controls, most commonly instituted as a response to inflation, and usually seeking to establish wages and prices below free-market level. Incomes policies have often been resorted to ...

on the

United States economy The United States has a highly developed mixed economy. It is the world's largest economy by nominal GDP and second largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). As of 2025, it has the world's seventh highest nominal GDP per capita and ninth ...

. In this capacity, the ESA was responsible for supervising the Office of Price Stabilization, the

Wage Stabilization Board The Wage Stabilization Board (WSB) was an independent agency of the United States government whose function was to make wage control policy recommendations and to implement such wage controls as were approved."Executive Order 10161, September 9, ...

, the Salary Stabilization Board, the Office of Rent Stabilization, the

Railroad and Airline Wage Board Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

, and the

National Enforcement Commission National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. The price control provisions of the Defense Production Act expired in 1953, so, on February 6, 1953, President Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10434 abolishing the ESA effective April 30, 1953. Executive Order 10480, signed August 14, 1953, ordered the liquidation of the ESA, and this was complete by October 31, 1953.

Directors of the ESA

Michael DiSalle Michael Vincent DiSalle (January 6, 1908September 16, 1981) was the 60th governor of Ohio, serving from 1959 to 1963. A Democrat, he was a member of the Toledo City Council and served as the 46th mayor of Toledo from 1948 to 1950. Early lif ...

, 1950 *

Alan Valentine Alan Chester Valentine (February 23, 1901 – July 14, 1980) was an American academic who competed on the gold-medal winning American rugby union team in the 1924 Summer Olympics, was president of the University of Rochester, and served in ...

, 1950–51 * Eric Johnston, 1951 *

Roger Putnam Roger Lowell Putnam (December 19, 1893 – November 24, 1972) was an American politician and businessman. A member of the prominent Lowell family of Boston, he served as mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts, from 1937 until 1943, and as director ...

, 1951–52

References

{{Authority control Defunct agencies of the United States government