The Great Depression
In times of economic crisis, the main question that is asked is whether or not the federal government is living up to America’s standards. If the government is in control of our everyday lives, it should be their duty to fix the economy. I also believe that too much control given to the government can result in corruption. During the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt made the new deal upon coming president. The new deal aimed to stimulate the industrial recovery, to assist the victims of the depression, and to raise the quality of life standards and to prevent future economic crises. It is nonsensical to say that the new deal worked perfectly, but it would also be ignorant to say it had no significant role in helping the crisis. With that being said, I believe that Roosevelt had positive and negative effects on society. I think that Franklin Roosevelt had good intentions on fixing the economy, but most of his legislations following the new deal had no long term affect. For example, The National Recovery Administration was the primary agency established by Franklin Roosevelt. The NRA asked businesses to regulate prices, wages, working conditions, and credit. The NRA was effective in a way but it brought about the idea of socialism by giving the president unconstitutional powers which America completely opposed. Because of this, it did not succeed. Another way that he tried to fix the economy was by the Agricultural Adjustment Act. This act limited farm production to help raise prices by paying farmers to not plant certain crops or have certain livestock. Being declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, this act did not last long. It did provide aid to Americans in the form of employment, food, and shelter, but it had no long term benefit for the nation. In these events, Roosevelt did not use his federal authority in a correct manner, but I believe he did these actions to truly better the economy. In contrast, there were ways that the new deal had long