IESET.
Movements·us_fdr_new_deal_1933_1939

FDR New Deal

USA·1933 – 1939·Democratic (FDR + large congressional majorities after 1932 + 1936)
Leaders: Franklin D. Roosevelt (President) · Frances Perkins (Labor) · Henry Morgenthau Jr. (Treasury 1934+) · Harry Hopkins (FERA / WPA) · Harold Ickes (Interior / PWA)
positionspost_keynesiandemocratic_socialistinstitutionalismaustrianclassical_liberal

Doctrine — stated goals and content

Depression-era reconstruction programme combining emergency relief, industrial recovery, and durable institutional reform. First Hundred Days (March-June 1933) produced the Emergency Banking Act, the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA), the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) with its NRA codes and PWA, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Banking architecture was rebuilt through the Banking Act of 1933 (Glass-Steagall) creating the FDIC and separating commercial from investment banking, followed by the Securities Act 1933 and Securities Exchange Act 1934 creating the SEC. The Second New Deal (1935) added the Social Security Act, the Wagner Act recognising collective bargaining, and the WPA. The Fair Labor Standards Act 1938 set a federal minimum wage, maximum hours, and child-labour limits. Stated case: restore purchasing power, stabilise banking, build permanent floors under workers and elderly, and reassert federal capacity where state-level action had failed.

Policy-content fingerprint — how the framework codes this movement on its axes

↑
transfer expansion
fiscal.transfer_expansion
Size of cash and near-cash transfer programmes (unemployment benefits, means-tested assistance, universal child benefits). Architecturally distinct from forced-saving schemes — see condition welfare_architecture.
increased · strong
larger transfer footprint
Creation of Social Security old-age + unemployment insurance; large emergency relief via FERA/WPA/CCC.
↑
spending level
fiscal.spending_level
General government spending as share of GDP, excluding transfers already captured under fiscal.transfer_expansion to avoid double-counting.
increased · strong
higher spending share
Federal outlays rose from ~3% to ~9% of GDP; PWA/WPA capital spending.
↑
financial deregulation
regulatory.financial_deregulation
Financial-sector regulation — banking separation, capital requirements, cross-border activity rules, derivatives oversight.
increased · strong
tighter financial regulation
Glass-Steagall separation, FDIC deposit insurance, SEC disclosure regime — tighter financial regulation.
↓
labour market flexibility
regulatory.labour_market_flexibility
Ease of hiring/firing, collective-bargaining scope, minimum wage rigidity, temporary/permanent contract regulation.
decreased · strong
less flexible (stronger employment protection)
Wagner Act entrenched collective bargaining; FLSA introduced minimum wage and hours limits.
↑
sectoral licensing
regulatory.sectoral_licensing
Sector-specific licensing regimes, concentration / quota allocation, state-controlled entry (energy, telecoms, healthcare, banking).
increased · moderate
tighter sectoral licensing / more state gating
NRA industry codes (struck down 1935), AAA production quotas, TVA public utility.

Policies enacted

What the data says — linked outcome hypotheses

The movement's outcome claims are tied to these hypotheses. Verdicts update as models run.

not yet written
great_depression_recovery_policy_mix
not yet written
deposit_insurance_bank_run_prevention

Schools of thought aligned or opposed

aligned
post_keynesian
Demand-side reflation + floors on labour incomes aligns with later Keynesian articulation.
partial
democratic_socialist
Collective bargaining + social insurance; private ownership preserved.
aligned
institutionalism
Institution-building emphasis — FDIC, SEC, SSA — is the canonical institutionalist move.
opposed
austrian
Price supports + cartelised NRA codes read as prolonging malinvestment.
opposed
classical_liberal

References