The Post War Economy

1
The Post War Economy

• Chapter 21

2
Introduction

• The United States began one of the greatest
  periods of economic expansion in its history
• Times were good, people had jobs, etc.

3
The Affluent Society

• John Kenneth Galbraiths book
• Became a universal description of postwar America
• Said capitalism had worked quite brilliantly

4
Galbraiths premise

• Americans needed to spend less on personal
  consumption
• Should devote more public funds to
• Schools
• Medical care
• Cultural activities
• Social services

5
Terms to Know

• Per Capita Incomethe average income per person
  in the country

• Real Purchasing Powerlike real wages in
  earlier chapter equals what people can actually
  buy

6
Changes in How Business Runs(corporate policy)

• Consolidationmerging small businesses into
  larger ones

• Diversificationhaving more than one type of
  income in an area or town

7
Eisenhowers View

• Corporate Commonwealth
• Similar to Hoovers associative state
• Emphasis on cooperation
• Hesitant to pump up the economy

8
Result

• Recession in 1953 following Korean War
• Another in 1958
• Unemployment reached 7.5
• Ike feared inflation more than unemployment or
  poverty

9
Assembly Line Food

• Franchisebuying the right to use a natl company
  name and methods
• Local owners get the support of national
  advertising
• Creates countless low paying jobs
• Means losing local, unique, community oriented
  businesses

10
Growth of the Computer Industry

• More powerful calculatorsreplace slide rules
• The transistor replaced vacuum tubes and made
  smaller machines possible
• Businesses of all kinds began to use computers to
  track customers, inventory, etc.

11
Growth of Television

• 2/3 of all American households owned one by 1953
• Natl commercials exposed Americans to products
  they were told they deserved or needed for a
  comfortable, middle-class lifestyle

12
Changes in the Workforce

• Large shift from blue collar to white collar jobs
• Blue collarentry level, skilled labor, etc.
• White collarmanagement, professional, etc.
• Machines now did many tasks formerly performed by
  people
• Changes in agriculture resulted in fewer, but
  larger, farmsmore commercial farms

13
America Moves to the Suburbs

• The baby boom continued
• Many returning veterans were able to buy homes
  with VA loans

• Increase in mass produced, look-alike housing
  communities
• Began to depend on automobiles highways

14
The Domestic Ideal

• Nuclear family
• Wife efficient, patient, always charming
• Husband bread winner, brains of family
• Children well-behaved, clean-cut, indulged

15
The Other-directed Man

• Desire to conform
• Strong peer influence
• Fewer risk takers
• Emphasis on security, comfort
• C. Wright Mills said, They sell not only their
  time and energy, but their personalities as well.

16
New Leadership

• Corporate executives
• Military men
• Political leaders

17
The arms race gave unprecedented power to the
Military Industrial Complex
18
Federal Subsidies

• Helped people buy homes
• Attend college technical schools
• Live in the newly built suburbs

19
Americas Love

• The Interstate Highway Act was the biggest public
  works program evereven bigger than projects of
  the Depression Era

20
To Continue Economic Growth

• Enormous consumption (buying) was necessary
• More people entered the Middle Class and its
  membership passed 50 of the population for the
  first time
• Credit use soared as people tried to keep up
  with the Joneses

21
The End