Boomb, bust and recovery, 1917-41 Flashcards
Following the brief depression of 1919-21 what did America enter into?
What was key to the boom?
What % increase did the population see during the 1920s?
What increase did industrial production see during this period?
What did the US chemicals industry do well in manufacturing?
Was this better than the electricity industry? Why(why not?)?
-America entered into an era of unparalleled prosperity.
-The key to the boom was a great increase in productivity resulting from technological innovation.
-The population increased by 16% during the 1920s.
-Industrial production almost doubled.
-The US chemicas industry did well particularly in the manufacturing of synthetic textiles and plastics.
-NO. The electricity industry did even better: electricity consumption more than doubled during the 1920s.
What boom did the automobile industry contribute to?
What techniques did Ford adopt bringing the Model T car to masses?
How many cars was he producing per seconds by 1925?
What competition did he face?
By 1929 with nearly 27 million what did this average out between the population?
How much people did the car industry employ in 1929? What % of manufacturing wage earners is this?
What other industries did the automobile industry stimulate?
-The automobile industry contributed a great deal to the business boom.
-Ford adapted assembly techniques and concentrated on a standardised model, bringing the Model T car to masses.
-By 1925 he was producing a car every ten seconds.
-There was also competition from other manufacturers, notably Genral Motors who offered more stylish models.
-By 1929 there were 27 million cars- one for every five Americans.
-By 1929 the car industry employed 450,000 workers- 7% of all manufacturing wage earners.
-The automobile industry stimulated other industries- steel, rubber, oil, road building and service stations.
What happened in Wall street 1929?
What was this followd by?
What happened simulatenous to the evaporation of business confidence?
What did US trade fall by between 1929-32?
Between 1929-32 what had industrial output fell by? Unemployment?
Why did farmers also suffer?
-In October 1929, the value of stocks and shares on Wall Street collapsed.
-This was followed by the most devastating economic collapse in US history.
-Business confidence evaporated as bankruptcies and bank failures multiplied.
-US trade feel from $10 billion in 1929 to $3 billion in 1932.
-By mid 1932, industrial output had droopppted to half the 1929 level.
-1929 unemployment was 1.5 million 3% of workforce by 1932 unemployment was over 12 million 25% of the workforce.
-Farmers also suffered as food prices collapsed.
What year did Roosevelt become president?
Were his new deal measures successful?
What did he do? (panic halt?) (public works?) (new institutions?) (TVA?) (Relief?)
-1932 Roosevelt became president.
-His New Deal measures did have some success.
-Created new institutions to reconstruct industry and farming.
-Authorised the largest public works programen in American history.
-Set up TVA to tackle problems facing the Nile valley(flooding, electricity etc)
-Set aside ($500 million) for relief to the unemployed.
What year was Roosevelt first re-elected?
What did this show?
What year had US output finally surpassed that of 1929?
How did Roosevelt try to balance the budget by this time?
What did this do to the economy?
Was this decline sharper than in 1929?
What did industrial production fall by 1937? National income?
How many were workers were unemployed 1938?
How much did Roosevelt ask Congress for in 1938 to spend on relief and public works?
Did Congress accept? What happened to the economy a result?
Therefore did the New Deal bring full recovery?
Who was the USA less successful at reducing unemployment than?
How many were still unemployed 1939?
-1936
-This was proof that most Americans felt Roosevelt’s measures were working.
-1937 US output surpassed that of 1929.
-Roosevelt had tried to balance the budget by cutting government spending.
-This sent the economy on reverse.
-Indeed the rate of decline in 1937-38 was sharper than it had been in 1929.
-Industrial production fell by 1/3 and national income a 1/10.
-By 1938 11.5 million workers were unemployed.
-1938 Roosevelt asked Congress for $3.75 billion for relief and public works.
-YES. Congress obliged and by summer the economy saw slow upward climb.
-NO. It brought partial recovery.
-The USA was less successful at reducing unemployment than Germany and Britain.
-10 million unemployed in 1939.
What did the US benefit from in 1939?
What did US businesses do during this time?
When did unemployment remain high until?
-The US benefitted from the outbreak of the war in Europe 1939.
-US businesses broke into markets previously dominated by European manufacturers.
-After 1940 US gov’t prepared for war providing more jobs. But unemployment remained high until 1941 when the US actually joined.
