Jimmy Durante promo for the NRA (National Recovery Administration).

This humorous and interesting film captures well the fascistic nature of National Recovery Administration under Hugh S. "Iron Pants" Johnson, a well-known admirer of Mussolini's fascisti (as were many Americans of that e... more >

This humorous and interesting film captures well the fascistic nature of National Recovery Administration under Hugh S. "Iron Pants" Johnson, a well-known admirer of Mussolini's fascisti (as were many Americans of that era). The economics of the NRA are highly dubious and have been questioned by eminent economists, most notably Milton Friedman. As this promo reel humorously depicts, the public initially applauded the so-called Blue Eagle program but many of them eventually saw the darker side of it when NRA enforcers began raiding businesses and roughing up employees. The National Industrial Recovery Act was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1935 in Schecter Poultry Corp. v US because it unconstitutionally delegated law-making authority to the Executive. < less