The economic environment Flashcards
What was the percentage drop in the energy supplied to the general public in the US by coal from 1900 to 1930?
90% to 60%
How many passenger cars were there between 1917 and 1929?
5 million to 23 million
How much did Henry Ford pay his workers per day?
$5
Who introduced the idea of ‘scientific management’?
Frederick W Taylor
By how much did consumer debt rise between 1920 and 1929?
$3.3 billion to $7.6 billion
Before 1920 people borrowed, on average, 5% of their income. To what percentage did this rise to during 1929?
10%
In 1917 and 1929 how many homes were wired for electricity?
7.9 million to 24.6 million
How many shares were traded on the 24 October (Black Thursday) 1929?
12.9 million
How many shares were traded on October 29 (Black Tuesday) 1929?
16.4 million
How much was lost due to the drop in share prices on Black Tuesday (October 29 1919)?
$40 billion
By 1933, what percentage of the banks which were in operation before the Wall Street Crash bankrupt?
33.3%
In what year did Hoover introduce the Federal Home Loan Bank Act that was setup to help people with their mortgages?
1932
When was the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act introduced?
1930
How much was given to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) in January 1932?
$300 million (later expanded to help farmers as well as relief projects)
When did Hoover setup the Committee for Unemployment relief and the President’s Emergency Committee for Employment?
1930
When was the Wagner-Steagall Act that setup the Federal Housing Administration to oversee slum clearance?
1937
What did the Second Agricultural Adjustment Act do?
Provide subsidies to farmers to produce less
What was percentage unemployment in the US in 1917, 1926, 1932 and 1941?
1917= 4.6%; 1926= 1.8%; 1932= 23.6%; 1941=9.9%
What was government spending between 1930 and 1941?
3.3 billion to 8.7 billion
What was the rise in the worth of goods produced between 1945 and 1950?
$213 billion to $284 billion
What was the increase in profits made by the toy manufacturers between 1959 and 1961?
$1.6 billion to $2.1 billion
How many live births were there between 1940 and 1955?
2.6 million to 4.1 million
What did the 1949 National Housing Act do?
Slum clearance and provide 810,000 housing units
When was the Office of Price Administration shut down?
1946
By how much did prices rise after the Office of Price Administration shut down?
25% in two weeks
Which two organisations were setup as a result of the 1946 Employment Act?
Council of Economic Advisors and the Joint Economic Committee of the House of Representatives
In which decade was the ‘baby boom’?
1950s
How many miles of interstate highways were built after the 1956 Highways Act?
41,000
Where was the largest Levittown?
Long Island with 17,000 homes and 82,000 residents (the company discriminated against Black Americans)
How much could a home in a Levittown be bought for?
$7,000
By 1958, how many transistor radios were there in the US?
45 million
How much was in circulation in 1952 and 1960?
$169.7 billion and $215.8 billion
When was the Bretton Woods Agreement that made the dollar the currency to be backed by a gold reserve?
1944
What was the increase in money in circulation in the years 1961 and 1968?
$16.9 billion and $36.7 billion
What was the average wage increase from 1943 to 1969?
$5,000 (from $2,000 in 1943 to approximately $7,000 in 1969)
The percentage of unemployed in the USA between 1942 and 1969 never went above which upper limit in these years?
8%
What was government spending in 1969?
$190 billion
What was government spending in 1962?
$100 billion
What were some wages linked to to ensure that their wages kept in line with inflation?
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
What the USA’s percentage of the world’s exported manufactured goods in the years 1953, 1963 and 1973?
29% to 17% to 13%
When was the Arab-Israeli War?
1973
Between which months in 1979 were there fuel shortages?
May to July
What were the levels of unemployment between 1978 and 1979?
5.8% to 7.1%
What did the Tax reform Act of 1969 enable?
Increased payments of social welfare and raised the lowest tax barrier (exempting 9 million poorer families)
When was Nixon’s Economic Stabilisation act?
1970 (it gave Nixon the power to act on wages, prices, rents and interest rates)
When did Nixon introduce his first price freeze?
1971
When was Nixon’s Emergency Employment Act that created ‘community service’ employment for two years?
1971
What two provisions were made in the 1972 Social Security Act?
Increase payments by 20% and link payments to the CPI
When did the Fed put restraints on the increase in money supply?
1979
When did President Carter announce anti-inflation measures of: balancing the budget, reduce defence spending, voluntary wage and price controls and reduction in social welfare programmes?
March 1980
