Boom Flashcards
GETNA
Government policies Easy credit Technological advances New business methods Advantageous foreign markets
Intro
Average unemployment never rose above 3.7% from 1922-29
Electricity consumption doubled in 1929 alone
Unemployment never rose above 1%
People worked less hours: 47 in 1920 and 44 in 1929
Large domestic market for goods and services: population of 106 million in 1920
Huge coalfield areas in Kentucky and oil reserves in states such as Texas
Self-made millionaires such as Ford
Spirit of enterprise made exploitation of natural resources possible with rugged individualism
Mass production statistics/dates
Closely associated with Ford whose first assembly line was introduced in Highland Park in 1913.
In 1913, it took 12.5 hours to produce a car; however through mass production, it took 2 hours 40 mins.
8 million cars in 1920 in US and 26 million by 1929
Model T cost $290 by 1925
Samuel Insull controlled 111 companies by 1929 with a value of $3 billion.
By 1929, 16 companies controlled 90% of the USA’s electricity supply
By 1920, ford produced one car every 60 seconds and by 1925, every 10 seconds
Efficient working conditions and wage of $5 a day
Motor vehicle industry
One official claimed 65% of people work to pay for cars.
By 1929, motor industry employed 7% of all workers and paid them 9% of all wages.
Detroit expanded by 120% from 1910 to 1920
Temporary closure of Ford was a contributory factor to the recession of 1927 and workers lost $50 million in wages.
Road industry
1921 Federal Highway Act gave responsibility of road building to central government and construction of highways were at the rate of 10,000 miles per year by 1929
Electrical goods
In 1914, only 2.4 million electrical goods sold in the US; by 1929, 160 million.
In 1925, Birdseye patented his freezing process; however by 1928 only 20,000 refrigerators in the US.
Technological advances
In 1920, over 1 million Americans went camping.
In the 1920s over 20,000 movie theatres built.
Technological advances
By the mid-1930s 75% of households possessed a radio in America.
By 1929, every town in America provided a picture theatre showing Hollywood films.
Management science
By 1929, the largest 200 corporations possessed 20% of the nations wealth and 40% of the wealth generated by business activities.
Samuel Insull had 111 companies with as many as 24 layers between him and the company distributing the electricity.
Growth in business schools: in 1928, 89 of them with 67,000 students.
By 1929, companies spent $3 billion annually on advertising, 5 times more than in 1914.
Laissez faire policy
Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922) placed tariffs on goods being imported into the USA.
By 1929, union membership declined by nearly 1 million.
Easy credit
By 1929, $7 billion worth of goods sold on credit. This involved 75% of cars and 50% of major household appliances.
Reality
Arnold in 1949 argued that business lenders did not understand the workings of the economy in which they operated.
Farmers
After the war, falling demand reduced price; wheat prices fell from $2.5 to $1 per bushel.
During the 1930s, 13 million acres were taken out of production.
Mechanisation and new techniques meant they produced too much - 66% of farmers operated at a loss.
Overproduction
Between 1913 and 1920, the average rate of foreclosure was 3.2 per 1,000.
Women
By 1930, only 150 women dentists and fewer than 100 female accountants across the UK.
700,000 women were domestic servants.
Number of women receiving a college education fell by 5% during that decade.
Less than 2% of judges or lawyers were female.
