As the American history was passing through a time of great depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt presented the NEW DEAL, a series of economic programs which were implemented in the United States from 1933 to 1936. This paper discusses the attempts of FDR in flourishing American economy. We shall also discuss New deal in broader perspectives. This essay provides discusses the help of the FDR policies rationally and provides information about the impact of New Deal on American economy.
The deal was a retort to the situation of the great depression and focused the concepts of 3R’s, which according to the historian were termed as RELIEF, RECOVERY and REFORMS (Pike). In these 3R’s, the word RELIEF was determined as (relief for the unemployed and poor), RECOVERY as (recovery of economy to normal levels) and REFORM as (reform the financial structure in order to thwart the depression) (Schultz).
These sets of rules were designed to normalize the economy, provide assistance for national recovery and its third agenda was to create as social protection net for the securities of all the Americans. The new deal was characterized as a collection of initiatives, each aiming to secure political, social and economic demands of the nation (Schultz). Once enacted, the program of new deal expanded the role of federal government into the economic lives of the ordinary Americans to an exceptional degree (Edsforth).
In a couple of days Roosevelt was in a position to dramatically boost the nations mood with the help of a so called BRAIN TEST which was a group of leading intellectuals in the society formulating policies (Edsforth).
Roosevelt came up with some sudden and dramatic proposal, which concerned with reorganizing of the financial structure of the country. The proposal was a retort to the situation of the great depression and focused the concepts of 3R’s, which according to the historian were termed as RELIEF, RECOVERY and REFORMS (Powell).
RELIEF was the first part of the deal in which Roosevelt tried to provide relief to the people suffering and which also included industries whose weaknesses compounded that industry (Powell). The first attempt was to settle the baking crisis. Therefore THE EMERGENCY BAKING RELIEF ACT, passed on March 9, 1933 established federal control over banks and, if necessary, rescued them from problematic conditions through government loans (Pike).
The second initiative was to put the state of the gold standards, which meant that the government would not redeem paper money in gold. With such a step the prices of sliver, stock and commodities rose and an encouraging ratio of investment was done in this area putting money back in economy. Initiatives like FEDERAL EMERGENCY RELIEF ADMINISTRATION (FERA) & CIVILIANS CONSERVATION CORPS (CCC) were also taken to improve the conditions of American individuals (Edsforth).
RECOVERY was the second step mentioned in the new deal. Roosevelt most meaningful step was the NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL RECOVERY ACT (NIRA). It instituted programs to regulate industries, establish labor rights and improve working conditions. Section 7A of the NIRA guaranteed the rights of labor union to organize which resulted to communicate with labor representative and setting up the labor working standards and wages level (Schultz).
REFORM was the third point of the new deal. The reforms changed the nature of American government for the entire period (Schultz). In this step the first initiative was the AGRICULTURE ADJUSTMENT ACT (AAA). According to this act the access supply of crops were stopped. Subsidiaries were provided to farmers on not growing crops (Edsforth).
From the above analysis it could be suggested that under FDR’s economic policies the US economy grew rapidly in its first term of presidency. An economic downturn in 1937-38 which led to analysts being skeptic of the policies of the government however, there was also certain majority which appreciated the overall impact of these policies.
Works Cited
Edsforth, R. The New Deal: America’s response to the Great Depression. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2000.
Pike, F. FDR’s Good Neighbor Policy: sixty years of generally gentle chaos. Texas: University of Texas Press, 1995.
Powell, J. FDR’s folly: how Roosevelt and his New Deal prolonged the Great Depression. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004.
Schultz, K. America Unbound: A U. S. History Primer. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2009.