The Great Depression and The New Deal: an Analysis

The Great Depression started from 1929 till 1941 where many of the US economy crash and many of the top wealthy people lose their money as 1/3 of the US economy is based on the richest 5 percent of Americans. Millions of the usual employed got unemployed as thousands of the business went bankrupt, as more and more people found themselves out of work with smaller paycheck they cut back on buying new things with credit because if they cannot pay the installment payments on time they will lose the goods that they purchased. The suicide rate also increase by 50% comparing to the previous eight years records. Within the first week of the stock crash the stocks fell by a total of $30 billion which is about 406 billions of today price. Most banks closed their doors and other banks struggled to remain open. The federal reserve raised interest rates, which further discourage more borrowing. Many Americans dump their stocks by no matter how much money they get and refuse to invest again as long as the market is falling.

By 1933 the American exports are at the lowest price since the 1905 where almost ninety thousand business had failed and corporate profit were down to 60 percent. At that same year New Deal by Roosevelt started to declare. Roosevelt declare a national Bank holiday to close all the banks on that day. Three days later after that declare the president presented the new freshmen congressmen with the Emergency Banking Relief Act which was the permission from the congress for the banks to reopen and the government will supply the funds to prop up some banks. Without any written version of the bill within less then 4 hours the Democrats and Republicans give FDR what he wanted. This was a new change for the banking part of the New Deal.

For the Job Creation part of the New Deals Agencies the first relief program called Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was declared on March 31 same year the Bank Holiday was declared for the first step to make people have jobs and home. It established several thousand army style camps to houses, employment, health care and a good environment for unemployed male age from 18-25. Within a few month of the Act over three hundred thousand men got $30 per month where $25 were sent back home to their parents. By 1941 more than 3 million received employment through the Civilian Conservation Corps. CCC only reached a small percentage of whose are needing relief, so Roosevelt administration created another Act called Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) to widen the range of assistance. Within the first year of the Act in action it take care of as many as 5 million people to have housing, meals and medical care around the nation. A temporary Act called Civil Work Administration (CWA) was also created to provide emergency unemployment relief during winter of 1933-34. The goals of this program was to provide as many work projects as possible for during the winter. It hired 4 million jobless for federal state and local work projects occurring during the winter.

For the Farming part of the New Deal Roosevelt administration declared Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) to help the agriculture recover where the farmers were paid to reduce the mass production of surpluses which could lead to down price of the farm products. After helping solve the farmers problem with the Agricultural Adjustment Act Roosevelt administration next turn to another part of the New Deal which was Industry and Labor to recover the industrial. In June of 1933 The National Industry Recovery Act (NIRA) was approved which compromise among the Roosevelt’s advisers who advocated two different approaches. To incorporate both approaches two new agencies called National Recovery Administration (NRA) and Public Works Administration (PWA) was created. The National Recovery Administration (NRA) was led by former army General Hugh Johnson which restart the national economic planning by establishing industry by industry with code that set prices, production levels and wages. The businesses supported the NRA as it allows price fixing which raise both the prices and profits. By 1935 several hundreds of industries with 2.5 millions of works displayed a poster with a blue eagle meaning that they were covered by the National Recovery Administrations codes. On the other side the Public Work Administration ( PWA) took a different approach where they provide jobs directly to the construction workers and jobs in the industries that supplied construction materials. These jobs as it goes stimulate more demands for consumers products and create more jobs. PWA become the largest federal public works program which over six years spent some $6 million to cooperate with state and local government to make thirty four thousand projects which include road, bridges, huge electricity dams, new school, new hospitals two aircraft carriers and much more. The most popular program was the Tennessee Valley Authority ( TVA) which develop a regional approach to develop rural and impoverished region of forty thousand square miles which benefit repairing dams and improve flood controls.

The New Deal Roosevelt administration declared not only improve the country topical area such as banking, industry and farmer but also give a lot of people income and job when they are needed. It help both the citizens and the country to improve with the development of the country and on the other hand to give a reasonable amount of income for the people to not hesitate on how they are going to survive their life without jobs. The New Deal also left the permanent legacy of more activist federal government by increasing regulation of business, Social Security, the Wagner Act, and many more. The New Deal changed the way American think about themselves and what they expect from the government as the government prevent depression, reduce unemployment and assist those in need. After Roosevelt’s presidency the Americans want president rather than congress to be the chief policymaker.