1. Why did Herbert Hoover, the Secretary of Commerce, call for radio conferences in 1922 and
1923? Why were these radio conferences necessary? Why wasn’t the Radio Act of 1912 enough
to address concerns? What had changed since 1912?
2. What was broadcast like in the 1920’s. In what ways was it the similar and different to today?
What is “direct advertising”? Why was if frowned upon at the time? How did it differ from
“indirect advertising”?

3. Was Secretary Hoover right to try to use his office to allocate the broadcast spectrum in a more
organized way in the 1920’s, or do you think he was overstepping his authority?
4. Why did radio regulation take on a sense of urgency for Congress in 1926?
5. What happened to Hoover’s regulatory scheme in 1926? In particular, what was the Zenith case
and why was it important? Do you think the court ruled correctly or incorrectly? If the
implications were so dire, why didn’t Hoover appeal the ruling to try to get it reversed?

6. Ronald Coase, who ultimately won the Nobel Prize in Economics, claimed that Congress in 1926-
27 meant well but made a significant mistake. What was the mistake, in his view? What did
Coase think Congress should have done instead? Why?
7. If members of Congress had been able to read Coase’s 1959 article back in 1926-27, would they
have acted differently? Would they have agreed that radio broadcasting was really no different
from newspaper publishing?

8. Why did so many in Congress want government ownership of airwaves? What if anything did
Coase miss in his analysis?
9. Was radio regulation about more than just limiting interference? If so, what else was it about?

10. Overall, what do you think of the bill that Congress produced in early 1927? If you had been
advising President Coolidge, would you have recommended he sign it? Why/why not?