In the short history of the United States, there have been many economic crises. The most far-reaching one was naturally the worldwide economic crisis that broke out on October 24, 1929. The dumping of milk in factories that we often see in movies and TV dramas happened during this period.

In the summer of 1929, the stock situation of General Motors in the United States was very good. Thousands of people have gained extremely high profits from this stock transaction. Gradually, people across the country fell into this seemingly continuous economic bubble, until October 24, when stocks fell from peak to bottom overnight.

Since then, the four-year Great Depression has begun. During this economic crisis, the crisis quickly shifted from the stock market to other industries. Gradually, a large number of banks throughout the United States faced bankruptcy and many companies were on the verge of bankruptcy. , the country's production dropped sharply, the number of unemployed people increased significantly, and living standards also dropped sharply, thus being affected.

The crisis not only affects the United States, but the entire world has been affected by this economic crisis. It was not until 1933, after the Hoover government's anti-crisis failure, that Roosevelt became president of the United States and began to implement the New Deal, and the entire U.S. economy gradually recovered.

1. The main measures of Roosevelt’s New Deal: industrial adjustment is the focus

In fact, the fundamental reason for the outbreak of this economic crisis is the inherent contradiction within capitalism. The direct cause is The contradiction between production and sales, the polarization between rich and poor in the entire society has exceeded the original normal state, stock investment has exceeded the original tolerance of the market, and credit consumption has been excessive. In order to change the situation of the Great Depression of the domestic economy. Therefore, the main reform of the New Deal is to strengthen the adjustment of the entire country's industry.

At that time, there were only three paths before the U.S. government, either to move towards communism and abandon capitalism to solve the fundamental contradictions within the entire national system. The other way is to accept fascism and alleviate the internal conflicts of the country through colonial expansion.

However, at that time, most people in the United States did not accept communism and fascism, and hasty implementation would inevitably aggravate the people's resentment. Therefore, Roosevelt decided to strengthen the Control the market, change the production relations within the economy, and use the market's self-adjustment to restore the economy.

Due to the pragmatist philosophical trend that arose in the United States at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, and the country’s comprehensive intervention in the economy during World War I, the people had a certain understanding of this, so these Once the system was introduced, there was no resistance from the people.

First of all, the normal operation of a country's economy is naturally inseparable from the operation of banks. Therefore, as soon as Roosevelt came to power, he began to rectify the banking and financial systems and restore bank credit step by step: banning the export of gold and abandoning the gold standard. ?System, gold is decoupled from the US dollar; additional currency issuance causes the US dollar to depreciate, stimulating corporate exports. In response to the problem of currency famine, the Federal Reserve Bank was established, which re-established the American people's confidence in the bank, which also provided a certain guarantee for the subsequent resumption of industrial production.

In industry: The government has strengthened its control and regulation of capitalist market production and eased class conflicts; it passed the National Industrial Recovery Law to prevent production losses caused by blind competition among enterprises regardless of market demand. Overproduction has established a platform for fair competition among enterprises; established rules and regulations for fair competition in the industry, ensuring the standardization of production scale and product prices of each enterprise, and preventing overproduction between enterprises due to blind competition.

In order to safeguard the basic rights of workers, a unified maximum working hour and minimum wage are stipulated, which not only reduces blind production but also greatly solves the employment problem. Since then, the entire domestic industrial production in the United States has gradually returned to the right track.

In terms of agricultural production:

The "Agricultural Adjustment Law" was promulgated, advocating the reduction of farming and production, and providing compensation for these farmers who suffered losses, and the excess agricultural products due to vigorous production The agricultural products are purchased uniformly by the government, and part of the purchased agricultural products are destroyed or stored in warehouses by the government for social assistance. This series of measures has increased and stabilized the prices of agricultural products and guaranteed the basic rights and interests of farmers.

The government organized vigorous construction of reservoirs and other public projects, which to a certain extent found jobs for the unemployed, eased class conflicts, maintained the stability of the entire society, and stimulated production and consumption in the entire market.

The implementation of "relief for work" involves people who are capable of working in infrastructure projects invested and constructed by the government. On the one hand, it reduces the burden on the government; on the other hand, it narrows the gap in social distribution and promotes social demand. Ease social conflicts.

A complete social security system has been established to provide pensions and social insurance to retired workers. The unemployed and disabled have a certain degree of social subsidies. An emergency relief agency has been established to provide people who cannot live a normal life. Dole.

Conducting "fireside chats" to describe the country's policies and guidelines to the American people in plain language, enhancing the public's understanding of national politics and inspiring the American people in the midst of a major crisis. contributed to the end of the economic crisis.

In terms of politics, Roosevelt believed that the Supreme Court of the United States had insufficient staff. At that time, there were too many cases and office efficiency was low. It was necessary to increase the number of judges. There were 9 judges on the Supreme Court of the United States before, but it was later increased to 15.

In April 1939, Congress passed the New Deal Agency Reorganization Act, which merged small political agencies into large agencies. In 1939, the White House Office of Budget, Office of National Resources Planning and other presidential offices were established.

2. The Effects of Roosevelt’s New Deal

Since 1935, economic indicators in almost all industries in the United States have begun to recover steadily. Domestic economic indicators gradually increased from US$74.2 billion in 1933 to US$204.9 billion in 1939.

The number of unemployed people dropped from the previous 17 million to 8 million. At the same time, the implementation of the New Deal increased the people's confidence in the national system, got rid of the threat of fascism to the democratic system, and the entire capitalist system was adjusted, consolidated and developed.

It has extremely high reference significance for the development of the entire world economy. The state's control and management of the economy have been strengthened, creating a new model of state intervention in the economy. As a result, the United States has officially entered the period of state monopoly capitalism.

3. The impact of Roosevelt’s New Deal

From a direct impact point of view, Roosevelt’s New Deal eliminated all the harm caused by the economic crisis to society. Moreover, the long-term rise of the U.S. economy after the war was inseparable from Roosevelt's New Deal.

Roosevelt’s New Deal prevented the United States from embarking on the path of fascism. After World War II, the United States participated in the anti-fascist war, which created a favorable social environment and political conditions, laid a material foundation, and also determined the future development direction of the U.S. economy.

Since then, successive U.S. governments have taken different forms to intervene in the national economy, regulate social production, and ease social conflicts based on the economic conditions created by Roosevelt's New Deal. It can be said that Roosevelt's New Deal is the foundation of today's American economy. The welfare policies pioneered during the New Deal period are still used by many countries today.

Of course, Roosevelt's New Deal also had shortcomings. Although social relief was provided through "relief for work" and the government built public facilities, although the employment problem was solved to a large extent, this also resulting in a fiscal deficit. The problem of population unemployment has not been fundamentally improved.

This reform greatly increased the power of the federal government. The power of the President of the United States also reached its historical peak during this period. The power of local government was greatly reduced, and its own sense of responsibility and mission was also reduced. decline.

The New Deal did not improve the voice of ordinary people, nor did it punish interest groups well. But these are contradictions within the capitalist system itself, and these contradictions cannot be resolved without overthrowing the system.

Summary:

Roosevelt’s New Deal mainly strengthened intervention in the economy through three aspects: relief, rehabilitation and reform, and alleviated the crises and contradictions brought by the Great Depression to the entire American society. .

The New Deal has greatly improved the impact of the great economic crisis on American society and laid a good foundation for the subsequent economic development of the United States. However, it has never been able to solve the fundamental problems existing within capitalist society. . Of course, this does not affect the positive effect of the New Deal on American society as a whole.