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  • Essay / Roosevelt's New Deal and its success

    On October 24, 1929, the great crash of the American stock market triggered an unprecedented economic crisis, which quickly spread throughout the capitalist world. This is the deepest, longest, and most widespread crisis in American history. At that time, US President Hoover stubbornly stuck to the laissez-faire policy, which intensified internal contradictions and abandoned society as a whole. Shortly thereafter, Franklin Roosevelt became President of the United States. Instead of implementing laissez-faire, he intervened comprehensively in the economic market by implementing the New Deal to alleviate the crisis in the United States between 1933 and 1939. The New Deal, which is a set of national programs comprising a series of large-scale legislations affected almost every aspect of social and economic life. Roosevelt made revolutionary changes with his New Deal, focusing on finance, agriculture, and industry. He passed laws to relieve depression during the First Hundred Days. This improved the quality of life for many Americans and moved American capitalism to a more mature stage of development. The implementation of the New Deal was partly a success since a part of the American population, such as African-Americans or Americans of Mexican origin, did not benefit from the new agreement, but it appeased the American economy and many people have benefited from the policies and agencies. To demonstrate the success of the New Deal, I will focus on finance, then agriculture, industry and social protection. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Roosevelt's New Deal began with financial consolidation. On March 6, 1933, three days after taking office, Roosevelt declared a national banking holiday. This was the first step he took to rebuild the banking and economic structure. Then Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act, which was a system of individual controls and licensing for solvent banks, and the Glass-Steagall Banking Act. As a result of these measures, bank credit was restored and bank deposits increased by almost $2 billion in less than a year. In the early 1930s, it was difficult for the Federal Reserve to implement effective monetary policy. However, due to political management and negotiations, banking laws have undergone major revisions. So, to some extent, the EBA helped turn around the country's banking system and had a historic impact on the Federal Reserve. Overall, the act was a success. The public has restored its confidence in government actions and the national banking system. Since speculation and excessive selling of stocks and bonds triggered the Wall Street Crash, FDR passed the Securities Act to encourage trading integrity. These reforms saved the American system and promoted the normal functioning of the financial system. They were also a prerequisite for the resumption of industry and agriculture. After stabilizing the crumbling banking system, Roosevelt focused on people. As Schlesinger pointed out in his article, “depression, like the communist offensive today, puts democracy to the test.” During the 1930s, Roosevelt highlighted Western liberalism that democracy had the energy, strength, and capacity to meet the challenge. Its “letter agencies,” such as FERA, CCC, CWA, and PWA, have helped more than nine million Americans in the short term.desperate. To meet the urgent needs of the unemployed, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) directly allocated money to the needy and provided money to finance social programs. The CCC was also known as the Civilian Conservation Corps, established in 1933 under FDR. It has provided three million jobs to young men in environmental conservation projects. It was one of the most successful programs of the New Deal. This program has solved the financial problems of many needy families. According to statistics, registered young men sent home more than $400,000,000 of what they earned. At the same time, it has also improved the local environment and communities. The CCC planted more than three billion trees and created more than 700 national and state parks, which people can still visit today. Additionally, the CCC has fought wildfires, built trails and shelters, controlled flooding, and constructed wildlife refuges. However, the main disadvantage of the CCC was that it only benefited men, meaning women could not benefit from it at all. The Civil Works Administration (CWA) was also successful as it employed 4.2 million people. Together, these Alphabet programs and agencies have created millions of jobs for the unemployed and improved public buildings. According to the most recent data, GDP increased by 2 percent, but even as production increased, unemployment still increased by 7 percent between 1933 and 1934. To spur the recovery of American agriculture, FDR released reforms to help farmers. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), which aimed to raise agricultural prices by reducing surpluses, was his first action. In this case, farmers would benefit rather than consumers. More than 3 million farmers have joined the program and farm income has increased by more than 50 percent. These were impressive gains. However, there were some drawbacks. First, since the AAA focused on reducing production, crops have been wasted and livestock have been killed, and millions of people still starve. Second, most of the benefits of the AAA were reaped by large farmers rather than poor farmers. Furthermore, it was controversial that only seven corps out of hundreds could benefit from the grant. So farmers continued to produce, which could be difficult for the government to reduce. The rehabilitation of industry was another direction emphasized by FDR. The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) was central to the recovery of American industry. Public Works Administration (PWA), a long-term government agency (1933-1939), established to reduce unemployment by constructing public buildings under the NIRA. He created more than 70 percent of the country's schools, a third of its new public health facilities and 50 airports. However, the National Recovery Administration (NRA), the NIRA's other agency, was not a success. It was supposed to help unions fight corporations and eliminate unfair trade practices. But in the end it had to close its doors because big companies took advantage by sacrificing consumers and small businesses. FDR also tried to make efforts on social welfare. The Social Security Act, enacted in 1935, is an example. Its aim was to help the elderly, the unemployed and the disabled. One of the SSAs concerned old age insurance. It financed it through deductions from taxes paid by workers. To some extent this diminished the power.