The National Recovery Administration was one of several New Deal agencies that President Franklin Roosevelt implemented to provide immediate economic relief to the American people, to stimulate the U.S. economy, and reform the U.S. government’s role to address the devastation of the Great Depression.

 

The Administration was created in 1933 to implement reforms 

outlined in the National Recovery Act (NRA).  The reforms sought to 

balance the interests  of farmers, businesses and laborers by 

eliminating competitive practices, creating codes of fair 

competition, and establishing price controls.   The Act also 

gave the government the power to make agreements directly 

with private industries but gave the President the exclusive 

right to establish job codes that these industries had to follow.  

More than 500 codes were eventually enacted.

 

 

The Act’s reforms were largely liberal because it provided for a larger role for the government to intervene to create a more equitable system and distribution of wealth in the U.S.  Though laborers benefited from improved labor standards and the threat of sanctions against businesses to ensure they implemented and followed these forms, adopting these reforms, particularly price controls, enabled farmers and businesses to protect their business interests and to be profitable. 

 

Many businesses adopted the NRA reforms but there were opponents

who wanted open prices   to ensure prices remained fair for businesses.

  One such critic was Father Charles E. Coughlin who, originally, believed

in and supported the President Roosevelt’s New Programs but later

rescinded his support and became on President Roosevelt’s biggest critics. 

The fixed prices caused the economy to become unstable and ultimately,

the program failed.

 

 

 

 

The National Recovery Act was declared unconstitutional in 1935 before it was able to fully implement all of its reforms but its labor provisions continue to form the basis of current day labor laws.