Thresholds economy (for sources) Flashcards
wartime years … national income, wealth & industrial production …
1941-45
more than doubled
by … full employment
1945
(1955) working & middle class Ams tended to buy … = … average family income
Chevrolets & Fords
~2/5
by … … Ams owned at least 1 car
1960
75%
companies changed styles & facilities e.g. … -> during 50s … cars discarded every year
colours, chrome-painted metal parts, white-walled tyres, air con
~7mil
(cars) wealthy white men favoured …
Lincolns & Cadillacs
Detroit = hub - …
General Motors, Ford & Chrysler
(~50s) … Ams worked in industry related to car manufacture
1 in 7
on-the-road culture = … first Holiday Inn, by … … McDonald’s
1952
1960
228
first Levittown in … … -> by … … Ams in suburbs
Long Island
1947
1970
80mil
National Interstate & Defences Highway Act … = … year … programme to create network … interstate highways
1956
10
$25bn
42,500 miles
… white-collar workers (associated with …) outnumbered blue-collar for first time
1956
office work & service industries
1960 2x as many women in work as … & … all women over … held job
1940
40%
16
Korean War … -> defence spending = …
1950-53
‘military-industrial complex’
1960 … more purchasing power than …
30%
1950
… Life magazine = teenagers owned … record players & spent … on entertainment in …
1959
10mil
over $1.5bn
1958
(~50s) teenagers = … glasses ice cream per year
145mil
(~50s) … 18-19 year old girls married
1/3
Federal Housing Administration & Veteran Administration offered mortgages up to … & up to … to pay back at low interest
90%
30 years
… … = first credit card
1950
Diner’s Club
by … mail order company … had … customers bought on credit
1960
Sears Roebuck
10mil
‘Sun Belt’ cities = …
Dallas, San Diego, LA, Houston, Miami
by 1960 median income white family …, non-white family …
~$5,800
~$3,200
escape rural poverty & racial discrim = USA’s largest … cities gained … non-white residents in 50s
12
18mil
recessions: …, … & …
1974-75
1980
1981-82
*(70s) inflation average … … -> … …
8.2%
1973-83
13.4%
1980
(70s) … poll = … Ams considered inflation greatest concern
1978
63%
*(70s) unemp … by …
8.9%
May 1975