Designing a new America : the origins of New Deal planning, 1890-1943 / Patrick D. Reagan.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 309-352) and index.

1. The Origins of New Deal Planning: Organizational Change and Public Policy-Making in Modern America -- 2. Frederic A. Delano, Father of New Deal Planning: Upper-Class Duty, Managerialism, and City and Regional Planning -- 3. Charles E. Merriam and Social Science: Politics, Professionalism, and Planning -- 4. Wesley Clair Mitchell and Economic Research: Business Cycles, Social Science, and Hooverian Planning -- 5. Henry S. Dennison and the Middle Way: Business, Welfare Capitalism, and Associational Planning -- 6. Beardsley Ruml, Foundation Manager: Philanthropy, Social Science, and Public Policy -- 7. The Organizational Nexus of New Deal Planning: From Hoover to FDR -- 8. The Crucible of Planning: Recession, War, and Postwar Planning, 1937-1943 -- Epilogue: The Abolition and Legacy of New Deal Planning.

"Beginning as early as 1890, a combination of intellectual and institutional developments - from the emergence of the social sciences as a guide to rational management to the reform efforts of the 1920s - prepared the way for the creation of the National Resources Planning Board (NRPB) in 1933.".

"Reagan centers much of his analysis on the careers of five individuals who served on the NRPB during its ten years of existence: city and regional planner Frederic A. Delano: political scientist Charles E. Merriam; economist Wesley Clair Mitchell; business leader Henry S. Dennison; and philanthropic manager Beardsley Ruml.".

"Although abolished by Congress in 1943, the NRPB remains a symbol not only of New Deal hopes and ambitions but of an enduring if ambivalent American faith in professional social and economic management."--BOOK JACKET.