The New Deal did not alter the structure of the American economy

Evidence

Roosevelt’s New Deal strengthened the trade unions and sometimes encouraged, sometimes restrained big business. It brought Jews and left-wingers into important political and administrative positions for the first time, and made the so-called Red Decade, the Rebel Thirties, possible. But neither its intentions nor its consequences included changes in the structure of the economy. The 1938 recession brought unemployment back up to ten million, and Roosevelt admitted in a public declaration that the only way out of the depression was to stimulate the arms industry. This made it unmistakably clear that developments in the USA represented the lesser evil compared with European conditions, but were in no way an alternative heralding a socialist democracy. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1034 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Chicago economists had developed a reputation as leading opponents of the economic policies associated with the New Deal. Several of them were highly critical of institutionalism, a methodology that relied on precisely the modes of inductive reasoning that Robbins had denounced. After Keynes published his General Theory, some of the sharpest criticism of his ideas emanated from their department. — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 88 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Many more people who are knowledgeable about alternative health and preventive medicine could, like Marya and Patel, have used their expertise to advocate for collective and structural responses to our collective health crises during the pandemic. That is what happened during the Great Depression in the United States, when New Deal programs created millions of jobs building public swimming pools as well as hundreds of state and national parks. The guiding philosophy of these ambitious public works projects was that exercise and access to nature were rights that should not be reserved for the rich. Similar programs could be launched today, with an emphasis on the Black and Brown neighborhoods that never received their share of New Deal infrastructure, or that lost it afterward when whites revolted against integration. — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 590 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: New Deal reforms altered nothing structurally, leaving the US economy’s hierarchy intact — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1034; Chicago economists led opposition to the New Deal and Keynesian doctrine — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 88; The New Deal treated exercise and nature access as public rights, not privileges — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror…, 590 (+2 more)

Related

• New Deal reforms altered nothing structurally, leaving the US economy’s hierarchy intact (similarity 0.88)
• Chicago economists led opposition to the New Deal and Keynesian doctrine (similarity 0.79)
• The New Deal functioned as a rehearsal for wartime economic management (similarity 0.79)
• The New Deal treated exercise and nature access as public rights, not privileges (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• New Deal reforms altered nothing structurally, leaving the US economy’s hierarchy intact #corroborates (1.00) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1034
• Chicago economists led opposition to the New Deal and Keynesian doctrine #corroborates (0.80) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 88
• The New Deal treated exercise and nature access as public rights, not privileges #contradicts (0.80) — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 590