Theme 4.1 - Economic transformation Flashcards
What are some examples of how the economy changed/ there was prosperity?
- 8 million veterans given grants- GI Bill
- USA= richest country in world.
- Car ownership increased massively.
- People moved from urban centres into suburbs- where new homes = more affordable.
- Levitt houses.
- Post-war baby boom
- Growth of employment opportunities.
- Optimism & strong belief USA had ideal family.
- Development of the nuclear family.
Post- war prosperity
What happened to the GNP since 1941?
GNP had risen 35% since 1941.
Post- war prosperity
What percentage of the population did the USA have?
What percentage of the global income did the USA have?
- 7% of worlds population.
- Posessed 42% of global income.
Post- war prosperity
What was the income per capita?
What was this compared to GB?
$1450
Almost twice as high as GB.
Post- war prosperity
How many calories did Americans consume per day?
How does this compare to people in Western Europe?
3,000 calories a day.
50% more than most people in Western Europe.
Post- war prosperity
- What happened to federal government spending in 1948 & how did this compare to previous years?
- Why was this figure going to increase further in the 1950s?
- What did states spend more money on?
Spent more:
$36.5 billion (1948) - significantly less than $92.2 billion (1945).
- Figure would rise significantly- Koren War & defence budget in the 1950s.
- States- spent more money on roads & schools.
Post- war prosperity
Economic expansion created greater employment opportunities in what industies?
Aircraft production, chemicals & electrical goods.
Post- war prosperity
As consumer tastes changed- who made huge gains?
- Processed food production.
- Tobacco companies made vast profits & employed more people.
Post- war prosperity
What was made apparent by the late 1940s?
That the prosperity was going to last- then the consumer boom gathered.
Post- war prosperity
Did all areas become more prosperous?
No!
These areas were mainly in the South- in the poorer areas of cities.
Post- war prosperity
In 1947- what % of homes lacked running water & what percentage couldn’t flush toilets?
- 33% lacked running water.
- 40% can’t flush toilets.
Post- war prosperity
Where did most families live?
Most lived in rented accomodation and could hardly imagine owning their own property.
Post- war prosperity
What happened to home ownership between 1950-1960?
1950 (55%)
1960 (62%)
What did the GI Bill of Rights do?
How many people benefitted from it?
- It offered grants to veterans to improve their education, learn new skills or set up businesses.
- 8 million veterans took advantage of the measure!
When was the GI Bill of Rights set up?
1944
GI Bill of Rights
How much were the veterans meant to recieve per week while looking for work?
How much of the money set aside for it was actually distributed & why was this?
$20
Less than 20% because so many jobs were available for returning veterans.
GI Bill of Rights
What happened to the universities & Home loans?
- Universities expanded considerably to accept former servicemen- whose fees were paid by the government.
- University of Syracuse - trebled its number of students.
- Offered low-interest home loans that allowed ex-servicemen & their families to move to new houses in the suburbs.
Increasing Mobility
What did the growth in the car industry lead to and mean for many Americans?
Led to much greater mobility & development of suburbs.
Meant Americans no longer needed to live in crowded towns & cities.
How did the Home become important for Americans?
- Important in terms of privacy & offering a comfortable lifestyle.
- It came to symbolise the prosperity of ordinary people because they were owner- occupiers.
- When mortgage was paid off- property would be theirs.
- They weren’t spending wages on rent but investing in a house.
The Growth of the car industry
What happened to the sales of cars between 1945-1950?
1945: 69,500
1950: 6.7 million.
The growth of the car industry
What was the car industry dominated by?
What did cars symbolize?
- ‘Big Three’ - Ford, General Motors, Chrysler
- Symbolize- confidence of the age- they were sleek, ‘gas-guzzling’, big and colourful.
The growth of the car industry
In 1958- What model of car did Ford produce?
In 1961- how many models of car were on sale?
5.79 metre long Lincoln Model.
1961- 350 different models on sale.
The growth of the car industry
How much did a new Chrysler cost?
What happened to the number of two-car families between 1951 & 1958?
- $1,300 or about 40% of the average family income.
- Doubled!
- (More can in LA than whole of Asia & General Motors was wealthier than Belgium in terms of GDP)*
The growth of the car industry
What did the growth of car ownership help to develop?
When was the first Holiday Inn set up?
Facilities associated with them such as roadside hotels, motels, gas stations & garages.
1952
When was the first McDonalds set up?
By what year were there 228 McDonalds?
What were the annual sales?
April 1955
1960
$37 million
How was road building given a major boost in 1956?
- 1956 Interstate Highway Act- boosted federal subsidies for road building & developed the infrastructure of US highways.
- Created a 41,000 mile system, mainly of dual carriageway , designed to eliminiate unsafe roads, bottlenecks & other factors that impeded free traffic movement.
What was the 1956 Interstate Highway Act intended to do?
What did road building developments signify the demise of?
Create a ‘national system of interstate and defence highways’ to facilitate speedy evacuation in the event of a nuclear attack.
Signify the demise of public transport in the USA. Passanger services on railroads lost an average $700 million per year by the mid-1950s ( partly due to growth of long-distance air travel)
The growth of suburbs
In 1944- how many new family homes were built?
How did this change by 1950?
How did the % of Americans owning their own homes change from 1945-1960?
1944 - 114,000 new family homes were built.
Rose to 1.7 million.
It rose from 50% to 60%
The growth of suburbs
What happened to the % of people living in suburbs from 1920-1960?
Why did people complain about suburbs?
Grew from 17% (1920) to 33% ( 1960)
- Suburbs lacked variety.
- Cinema & restaurant managers complained of a lack of business- as people stayed at home.
- Conditions deteriorated in residential inner-city areas- as left to poor- often members of ethnic minorities & lost funding to the ‘flight of the middle classes’ - who would have paid taxes to love there.
The growth of suburbs
What did the suburbs see the development of?
New facilities- e.g. shopping mall.
1946- 8 shopping malls.
Over 4000 shopping malls- late 1950s.
Increased prosperity & car ownership.
The consumer society
How were wages effected by the consumer boom?
- Rose
- Average $4,011
- Disposable income rose 17%
How much was the advertising industry worth?
- $6 billion in 1950
- $13 billion by 1963
How many TVs were there in America by 1960?
- 50 million
How did the baby boom improve the American economy?
- Nappy industry
- 1957 - $50 million per year
- 4 million born every year
How was divorce rate effected by the post war consumer boom?
- Golden age for the American Nuclear Family
- Rate fell 17.9% per 1000 in 1946
- To 9.6% by 1953
- Average age fell in married females - 21.5 years in 1940 to 20.1 years by 1956
- Within 7 months of marriage most women pregnant.
Give a reason for the rise in leisure time
- Filling homes with labour saving devices and white goods.
- 1951 - 90% of families had a fridge.
- 1951 - 75% washing machine and telephones
- Impacted the amount of debt - rose $5.7 billion in 1945 to $56.1 billion in 1960.
- American Express started in 1958
- Diner’s club card start in 1950 and become plastic in 1955
Give key examples of the rise in consumption in the post-war prosperity
- 33% world goods consumed
- Controlled 66% worlds productive capcity
- Hot dog consumption - 750 million in 1950 to 2 billion by 1960
- Weekly budget $25
