Concurrently, while the agrarian sector and movements suffered from the effects of urbanization and the nation's laissez faire form of government, cities flourished as more and more economic progress happened in the area of industrialization. New technology allowed new industries to flourish; increased immigration made possible the increasing mandate of political groups and movements and policies that supported the path towards industrialization and urbanization. Railroads became a cause for faster transportation, in addition to electric streetcars, making trade and migration from city to city easier -- in effect, making business transactions and operations faster and easier for Americans during the period of 19th century.

Industrialization impacted on national economy by helping create and develop the corporation, perhaps the biggest business organization that could possibly be formed under the modernist economic system. Apart from the creation of the corporation, foreign trade also increased, in the same manner as migration and immigration -- the influx of human resource within and outside the country -- increased during this time. Apart from these national changes in the economic structure, domestic changes also happened as a result: electric lighting, indoor plumbing and appliances became a common sight among American homes. This change in American lifestyle increased the living standards of Americans during the 19th century.

As mentioned earlier, the Populist movement of farmers led to an assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of the laissez faire form of government. Other factors contributed to this perceived inefficiency and ineffectiveness of laissez faire, such as the lack of policies pertaining to labors' rights and managing human resource within business organizations. With these issues in mind, the government ceased to adopt the laissez faire form of governance, and opted to enforce policies that control specific issues concerning the country's economy, such as the establishment and control of corporations, and the implementation of policies and regulations...

As a result of this government intervention to the economy, labor unions were created and developed to become one of the strong forces that dictate the dynamics within the labor movement. Moreover, corporations, companies and business entities also learned to observe and follow specific economic policies that would prevent them from dominating or controlling a specific industry or field in the commercial market.
During this period of economic changes and policy implementation, identified as the Progressive Era, specific realizations were made regarding the most effective form of economic policies to be crafted and enacted. Moreover, in the Progressive Era, government was able to determine and assess the extent of its involvement as far as intervention is concerned. These aforementioned policies, in effect, became the characteristic of America during the Progressive Era, wherein economic policies were made as a response to the rapid urbanization and industrialization happening in the country. In fact, these policies became the precedents that led Franklin Roosevelt to develop the economic program, the New Deal, which sought to remedy the economic problems inherently caused by the Great Depression. Among the policies implemented in the New Deal economic program are the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which raised the prices of farm products/produce; and the National Industrial Recovery Act, which induced fair competition among companies, avoiding the problem of monopolies.

Looking into these policies under the New Deal program, it can be noted that these policies were already in place or implemented during the Progressive Era, which makes these two movements different only by one virtue: that the New Deal program had a more organized level of implementation and legalization. It was only under the New Deal that these policies were strictly enforced, as a measure to the declining growth of the American economy. Thus, the Progressive Era was the precursor that helped develop the New Era program under the leadership of Franklin Roosevelt.