Roosevelt and the New Deal
Promoting Economic Recovery
National Recovery Administration (NRA)
A new federal agency, the National Recovery Administration (NRA) aimed to keep prices stable while boosting employment and buying power. Most of the country's major industries agreed to pay workers a minimum wage, to stop hiring children, and to keep wages and prices from falling too low.
The NRA succeeded in raising prices. However, critics charged that the agency's codes favored large businesses. More important, the NRA failed to improve the economy.
Public Works Administration
PWA projects included New York's Lincoln Tunnel, Florida's Key West Highway, and the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington. In fact, nearly every county in the nation could boast at least one PWA project.
Tennessee Valley Authority
The TVA accomplished its major goals. By 1945, power from TVA plants lit thousands of farms that had never before enjoyed electricity. Still, the TVA failed to relieve the region's poverty. Conservatives criticized the TVA for driving some property owners off their land. They also argued that it was unfair for the government to compete with private power companies.