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Why was there a boom in the 1920's? Essay Outline

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Introduction

Why was there a boom in the 1920's? In the 1920's, the USA was booming. Businesses grew, people became wealthy, new buildings were constructed and thousands of miles of roads were laid. Americans were able to buy a whole range of new products like cars, radios and washing machines. Why did the US economy grow so fast at this time? Historians have suggested that a number of factors worked together to cause the boom. The most important reason for the boom was technological change. It was a period of great innovation. New plastics such as Bakelite were developed and were used in household products. There were many technological advances in many different areas such as automatic switchboards, glass tubing, conveyor belts and concrete mixers during this time in America. ...read more.

Middle

The impact of WW1 - the USA had come out of the war well. It had supplied Europe with many goods during the war and had taken over European overseas markets, in some areas; US industry was now the world, for examples, chemicals. The war hastened technological change which the US industry seized. Confidence - confidence amongst Americans was sky - high. This meant confidence to buy goods, invest in companies and to try out new ideas. Confidence is a vital ingredient in any economic boom. Credit - the growth of credit made it much easier for people to buy goods even though they did not have enough cash to pay for them on the spot. Firms arranged for customers to pay by instalments or hire purchase. ...read more.

Conclusion

In the 1920's his ideas were applied throughout industry, particularly to the new consumer products. Mass marketing - mass produced goods have to be sold to a mass market; if enough people do not know about or buy the goods, the system will collapse. So companies spent huge amounts on advertising. This new industry developed sophisticated techniques to persuade people to buy. The expansion of the mail - order companies gave consumers in the countryside access to the wide range of goods on offer. Policies of Republican Presidents - republican pro - business policies encouraged the boom: * lowered taxes on income and company profits so the wealthy had more money to invest in industry and buildings; * they put tariffs on imported goods - helping American producers; * they didn't interfere in business or put any controls on financial institutions. Dawn Almond 11s History Essay ...read more.

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