America’s growing population was encouraged to work hard by the Republican presidents of the time. They introduced the policy of ‘Laissez-Faire’ which was basically the Republican presidents, specifically Coolidge, Harding and Hoover, leaving the economy to run without government interference. The state did not meddle with business, and in addition, there were low taxes on income and profit so that the American population could retain their money and invest it back into American goods, strengthening the economy. However, the Republican presidents had put a large tax onto foreign goods, making American goods much cheaper so that Americans, and the rest of the world, would buy them.
After the World War ended in 1918, America had come out on top. Lots of countries, mainly from Europe had been buying huge amounts of goods from America to fuel themselves in the War. This meant that whilst all these countries had been devastated, American industry was thriving from all the sales they had made. America’s industry had become the largest in the world and had created a huge European market which kept pouring money into the American economy. The war had strengthened the American economy greatly, along with the plentiful natural resources in America to be used by the industry.
The bountiful amounts of money that the American economy had, paved the way for advances in technology. The use of electricity to its full potential was the main advance that boomed many other technological advances. Electricity was in most homes in America and 70 percent had electric lighting. Factories were increasingly being run on electricity and overall the electricity consumption had doubled in the 1920s. This had paved the way for a whole range of domestic goods such as cookers, fridges, vacuum cleaners, washing machines and radios which now were in such a large scale that had never been seen before. Now factories were much more efficient, which contributed to a boom in the transport, construction and advertising industries as well as shopping.
A great example of the boom of the 1920s was Henry Ford. He had thought of the assembly line to produce the most successful car ever in mass production. This assembly line brought great efficiency to his car manufacture which meant he could sell it for much cheaper than the competition which made more people buy it so he could make the car even cheaper. Unsurprisingly, Ford got extremely wealthy, but he had also done a great deed for American economy. He had introduced an extremely efficient production technique to America which led to companies trying to improve their efficiency as well. Because of Henry Ford American industry became very efficient and it strengthened the economy. Also very importantly this had boomed many other industries as well. The rubber, glass, and metal industries increased rapidly due to Ford needing the materials for his Model T. The amount of roads doubled which opened up a space for mail order and shopping, causing mass advertising and people becoming richer which created big businesses, which sold more goods increasing the economy.
America’s economic boom was carrying on and on. Every boom had created other booms, and this had continued to happen all through the roaring1920s. This had created many new businesses and strengthened current business which in turn created less unemployment, which created a richer population, who then were most likely to reinvest into American goods due to the tax on foreign goods. Confidence in American Economy grew and firms were offering to loan money to the population. This gave more money to Americans which they either spent on goods which strengthened the economy or they invested it into stocks which strengthened the economy also. All of these things contributed in the economy increasing rapidly which in the end produced a self generating economy. This self generating economy had caused American economy to be in a time of great success and all the factors which I have explained during this essay contributed to this Self generating economy.
