Essay/Term paper: The new deal

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Economics

The New Deal


"How well did the New Deal combat the Depression?" I think that the
answer to this question is that it did very well and I would give it a grade of
an A.

When Roosevelt took office, in 1933, he had three goals in mind, to save
the banks, save the people, and to rebuild the economy. He set his sights on
returning the banks to their prosperous days of the pre-depression age.
Since the beginning of the Depression, banks were closing faster than
the people could withdraw all of their money. He countered this by closing all
the banks and had Congress pass an Emergency Banking Act that made federal loans
available to private bankers. At the same time he passed an Economy Act that
required the government to balance the budget. These helped ease the financial
problems throughout the nation and then he began to restructure the banking
system with such acts as The Glass-Stegall Act and the creation of the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation. He also set up the Securities Act and the
securities Exchange Act that were overdue regulations for the Stock Market. In
order to enforce all these new acts, he started the Securities and Exchange
Commission. These actions got the banks and the financial system started in the
right direction of what would be a slow recovery process.
Roosevelt's next objective was to take care of the people. Though
Roosevelt was a conservative, he realized the extreme need to help the poor. He
had Congress respond promptly, and established the Federal Emergency Relief
Administration that gave $500 million in relief to the poor people of the
country. Roosevelt then went on to create organizations that would offer jobs
and a sense of self-esteem to the unemployed of the country. One of these
organizations was the Civilian Conservation Corps that provided young men with
jobs to improved the environment. They had such jobs as planting trees and
helping to stop erosion. Another government activity was the Civil Works
Administration that paid unemployed people $15 a week to perform government
projects. Many people during this time were also in jeopardy of losing their
homes. To this, Roosevelt established the Homeowners' loan Corporation that
allowed people to restructure or take out another mortgages on their homes. His
ensuing step was to rebuild the economy.
Roosevelt felt that recovery would not only come from relief efforts,
but also with the cooperation from agriculture and industrial groups. Probably
the most significant acts by him and Congress were the Agricultural Adjustment
act and the national Industrial Recovery Act. These were fixed on the idea that
by controlling production it would start economic recovery. In other words, if
the made products become sparse the price for those products would rise and
consequently sales would climb. This would then restore the balance of the
normal market. They hoped that through all their efforts the final result would
be prosperity.
Roosevelt's actions at a time where leadership was needed immensely
helped this country to return to its once prosperous hay days. His actions
turned this country around for the better and brought our great country out of a
very severe depression.