So who's part of the 29%?

blackadder said

The New Deal is debateable. It perhaps had a useful psychological effect at the time and we got some nice national parks and public infrstructure out of it.

But economically it didn't do much. Throughout the 30s the economy tanked and the depression didn't end until we ramped up war production. And it could be argued that the New Deal entrenched the idea that government and bureaucracy was the solution to everything.

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That's a pretty contentious debate among economic historians, but I generally agree with your assessment about giving a psychological boost. The SEC and FDIC were good common sense reforms which I think struck at the heart of the overspeculation and the instability of the banking system in the 1920s as well as I understand the problems from a historical and economic perspective.

The NRA and AAA were complete disasters, as DD pointed out, the NRA was deemed unconstitutional--but it was hardly the "centerpiece" of the New Deal. Arguably the only centerpiece which anybody remembers or holds on to, or references is Social Security.

I can't find it, but there's a chart which shows that the GDP didn't grow that much until the late 30s, then tailed off in 1939, and the GDP didn't reach pre-depression levels until after WWII.