There are very respected economists and historians on all sides of debate as to whether the New Deal programs were effective, not effective, or if they actually

There are very respected economists and historians on all sides of debate as to whether the New Deal programs were effective, not effective, or if they actually prolonged the depression. Also, the New Deal was multi-faceted, so any analysis of its effectiveness needs to be specific. What parts were effective? Giving legal privileges to labour unions? Infrastructure investment? Social Security? Tax changes? You also have to consider the political side. Some of the New Deal proponents claimed that they saved capitalism, by preventing the crisis from boiling over to revolution. If they're right, there's certainly value in that. Now apply any lessons learned to today, a very different set of economic, social, and political circumstances. Also, beware of the broken window fallacy. Unproductive make-work is of no net benefit to society, and if foregone productive work is the opportunity cost, it's a net loss. Obviously, infrastructure investment is ideally productive, but the government has a pretty terrible track record for effectively spending money.