The Significance of the New Deal in the American Capitalism

Abstract

It seems to be most suitable to the understanding of the structure of the modern American capitalism to regard the 1930's as its direct "starting point". And we tried to grasp the significance of the "New Deal"-the concentrated series of the economic policies in the 1930's. Up to the present it has been understood in general that the New Deal was one of the typical type of the state monopoly capitalism together with the "Nazis Regime". But this concept of the state monopoly capitalism has been inclined to be indifferent to the domestic and foreign class situation at that time. In addition, especially in Japan, the synthetic and accurate investigation of the New Deal has not yet been tried from the viewpoint of the economic history. Therefore it seems necessary for us to bring forward the various thoiretical and material issues in the economic history, and we must take a method that will base on and overcome such a viewpoint as the state monopoly capitalism. We tried to take the standpoint of the synthesis of economic policies and industrial structure. This study, standing on the above viewpoint, will give nothing but a hypothesis. We should, however, call attention to the following points. First, the farmer's movement of the Midelle West in the "Great Crash" played an important part in deciding the farm policies of the first New Deal period. Second, how the radical labor movement had resulted, which seemed almost to be led by the New Deal labor policy such as "Wagner Act." Third the historical and economic character of the Roosevelt administration and the economic effect of the New Deal policies as a whole, which has usually been called as the "pomp-priming policy".