New Deal Alphabet Soup

Reduced agricultural production by paying farmers subsidies to not plant on part of their lands and to kill off excess livestock, reducing crop surplus and raising the value of crops. The AAA was declared unconstitutional in January 1936 in the Supreme Court Decision United Stated v. Butler arguing the federal government could not enforce agricultural regulation, which was believed to be a state jurisdiction.

Operated from 1933 to 1942 employing unemployed, unmarried men (ages 17-28) in unskilled labor such as building bridges, dams, and creating conservation areas.

An attempt to stabilize the banking system in the U.S. by declaring an eight-day bank holiday which prevented bank runs during this time, which gave the Roosevelt Administration time to build a plan to rebuild public confidence in the nation’s banking system.

Enacted safety regulations and certifications of pilots and aircraft, managed radio communications until the Federal Communications Commission was founded in 1934. Now regulates all aspects of civil aviation, including construction and operation of airports, and managing air traffic.

Helped farmers refinance mortgages over a longer time at below-market interest rates to help farmers recover from the Dust Bowl and avoid foreclosure.

Provides deposit insurance to U.S. bank customers; enacted after the Emergency Banking Act to restore public confidence in banks. Prior to the FDIC more than 1/3rd of all U.S. banks failed due to bank runs, effectively wiping out savings for many Americans. The FDIC ensures that depositors will have their money regardless of the health of the bank, or the economy.

Replaced in 1935 by the WPA, goal was to create unskilled jobs in local and state government to employ professionals affected by the Great Depression.

Set prices and created regulations to ensure fair practices, set minimum wages and maximum weekly hours for workers, and set minimum prices that goods could be sold for. Declared unconstitutional in 1935 arguing that the NRA interfered with states’ regulation of commerce and an individual’s ability to contract their labor.

Federally owned corporation that provides navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley.

Established under the Communications Act of 1934, to regulate licensing of radio broadcasters and telephone services, “to make available, so far as possible, to all the people of the United States a rapid, efficient, nationwide, and worldwide wire and radio communication service with adequate facilities at reasonable charges… “(Section 1 of Communications Act of 1934).

The goal was to regulate interest rates and terms of mortgages that it insured, extending the terms of mortgages from the average (at the time) three to five year loans to long-term loans such as the now common 30-year mortgage loan. Increased number of Americans who could afford down-payments and purchase homes, increasing the housing market.

Protected collective bargaining rights for unions and the right to unionize.

The largest of the New Deal agencies, employed millions of Americans to carry out public works projects. Facets of the WPA included the Federal Music Program (1935), Federal Theatre Project (1935), Federal Writers’ Program (1935), Federal Art Project (1935), and the National Youth Administration (1935). The goal was to provide one paid job for each family where the breadwinner (husband mostly) suffered long-term unemployment.

Social insurance program which workers and employers pay into to provide unemployment insurance, retirement/pension income, disability benefits, and survivors’ benefits.

Introduced the forty-hour work week, established a national minimum wage, guaranteed overtime pay for certain jobs, and ended the employment of minors in “oppressive child labor”.