'Without the new automobile industry the prosperity of the 1920s would scarcely have been possible? Do you agree?'

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‘Without the new automobile industry the prosperity of the 1920s would scarcely have been possible? Do you agree?’

In the 1920s, the USA’s economy was booming. People felt that they had a right to prosperity and many had aims of owning a nice house and car. Most people in the USA had this state of mind.

        I believe that the automobile industry was extremely important in the economic boom! In the 1890s cars were only made by skilled blacksmiths, and were very expensive. Only about 4000 were produced each year/ However Henry Ford changed all this. He set up the first real ‘production line’, where workers only had one or two jobs to do on a car as it passed them. A skeleton of a car went in and after each worker had done their bit a ready car came out. This was extremely efficient and significantly lowered the price of cars. Not only this, but it created a vast amount of employment! In 1929 4.8 million cars were produced. The automobile industry not only created much employment in its own industry but it created large employment in other industries too. For example the cars needed steel and rubber and due to the vast amounts of cars being produced much steel and rubber was being produced hence more employment.

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        The ‘T-model’ car was coming off the production line at one every 10 seconds at one stage! As many people were buying cars, more roads had to be made, and this created large employment (at one point making roads was the USA’s largest employer), boosting the economy. Many people bought cars on credit, again stimulating the economy. The automobile industry did indeed have a major role to play in the prosperity of the 1920s.

        However there were many other new industries that were also important. The USA had the latest technology and many new consumer goods were being ...

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