New Deal/Addendum

Notable New Deal programs

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The "alphabet soup" agencies of the New Deal included the TVA, CCC, WPA, FDIC, SEC and IRA.

The New Deal was composed by president Franklin D Roosevelt and had countless programs, labeled an "alphabet soup" by its detractors. Among the New Deal acts were the following, most of them passed within the first 100 days of FDR's administration. Most were abolished around 1943, others remain in operation in 2007:

• Reconstruction Finance Corporation a Hoover agency expanded under Jesse Holman Jones to make large loans to big business. Ended in 1954.
• Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). ERA, a Hoover loan program to states for relief; replaced by FERA in 1933 to give grants to states to operate relief projects for the unskilled; replaced by WPA in 1935.
• Bank Holiday, 1933: closed all banks until they became certified by federal reviewers
• Abandonment of gold standard, 1933: gold reserves no longer backed currency; still exists
• Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), 1933: employed young men to perform unskilled work in rural areas; under Army supervision; separate program for Native Americans
• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), 1933: effort to modernize very poor region (most of Tennessee), centered on dams that generated electricity on the Tennessee River; still exists
• Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), 1933: raised farm prices by cutting total farm output of major crops (and hogs)
• National Recovery Act (NRA), 1933: industries set up codes to reduce unfair competition, raise wages and prices;
• Public Works Administration (PWA), 1933: built large public works projects; used private contractors (did not directly hire unemployed)
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) / Glass-Steagall Act: insures deposits in banks in order to restore public confidence in banks; still exists
• Securities Act of 1933, created the SEC, 1933: codified standards for sale and purchase of stock, required risk of investments to be accurately disclosed; still exists
• Civil Works Administration (CWA), 1933-34: provided temporary jobs to millions of unemployed
• Indian Reorganization Act, 1934 moved away from assimilation
• Social Security Act (SSA), 1935: provided financial assistance to: elderly, handicapped, paid for by employee and employer payroll contributions; required years contributions, so first payouts were 1942; still exists
• Works Progress Administration (WPA), 1935: a national labor program for 2+ million unemployed; created useful construction work for unskilled men; also sewing projects for women and arts projects for unemployed artists, musicians and writers.
• National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) / Wagner Act, 1935: set up National Labor Relations Board to supervise labor-management relations; In 1930s it strongly favored labor unions. Modified by the Taft-Hartley Act (1947); still exists
• Judicial Reorganization Bill, 1937: gave President power to appoint a new Supreme Court judge for every judge 70 years or older; failed to pass Congress
• Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S. Code Chapter 8), 1938: established a maximum normal work week of 40 hours, and a minimum pay of 40 cents/hour; still exists