FDR, New Deals, and the Limits of Power 179consumption. The CCC did provide relief to millions, but not at levels ade-
quate to really fix the depression. The PWA, or Public Works Administration
likewise put people to work. Headed by Interior Secretary Harold Ickes, it
was a large-scale public works program to build bridges, dams, hospitals,
schools, and other public institutions. It was capitalized at $3.3 billion for
1933, and $6 billion total—all to go to private construction firms which bid
on projects—but most of that money was never spent and, like the CCC, did
put people to work and help consumption but was far too inadequate for the
enormity of the depression. FDR’s real emphasis during his first years in
office would be big business, the producers, because the president still failed
to see that the problem of the depression was a problem of consumption. In
particular, Roosevelt wanted to address the main pillars of the U.S. economy:
industry, agriculture, and banking, and he did so in conservative, capitalist
ways.
To fix industry, FDR got Congress to pass the National Industry Recover Act
[NIRA], to be administered by the National Recovery Administration [NRA],
known to all by its logo, a blue eagle. While the NRA created minimum wage
FIGuRE 4-6 TVA employee working on the construction of the Douglas
Dam in Tennessee, 1942