Economic Boom

Question 1

Why did some people benefit from the Boom?

Answer 1

• American state of mind was SPENDING IS GOOD
• 60% of cars bought on credit 80% of radios bought on credit
• Total industrial production increased by 50%
• Hire purchase allowed people to buy from catalogues and make weekly payments
• $5 dollars a day attracted workers
• 80,000 employees for River Rouge (70% immigrants)
• 1915 10 million phones 1930 20 million
• 51% of households had flush lavatories
• road length doubled
• skyscrapers seen as symbols of wealth

Question 2

What did Low Taxation do?

Answer 2

Helped people by giving them more cash to spend

Question 3

What did Import Tariffs do?

Answer 3

Put taxes on foreign goods which made them more expensive which meant people would buy American goods instead.

Question 4

What did the Laissez Faire do?

Answer 4

meant that government stayed out of business affairs which allowed the industry to grow without interference

Question 5

What were Trusts?

Answer 5

huge cooperations dominated by businessmen such as Rockefeller who made decisions to help their industry grow

Question 6

What was Normalcy?

Answer 6

kept America out of world politics and problems

Question 7

Why did some industries not prosper?

Answer 7

• between 1919 and 1928 farm income dropped from $22 to $13 billion
• 1920 wheat was $233 1931 it was worth $32
• less than 10% of farms had electricity or water
• competition from Canada meant American farmers couldn’t compete with Canada’s efficient wheat producers. This meant Americans bought cheaper goods and farmers lost money
• Black people were the last to be hired
• only 3% of semi-skilled owned a car
• coal and steel workers went on strike for low pay and long hours(men paid $18 for 70 hours)
• coal and steel paid 1/3 the national average