Discuss the intellectual history of Anglo American economic geography since the 2nd world war.
Economic concepts have often been used as the foundation for geographic theory; showing a relationship between the two. When the field of economics evolves then so too does the field of economic geography. Economic geography is defined as: a field of geography that helps to describe and explain the areas where economic activities are carried out. It is centered around helping to explain the production and distribution of commodities and how resources are to be allocated and the consequences (Barnes 2009). The Second World War ceased in 1945 and after this the economies of both America and the UK changed rapidly. These economies passed through different systems; Keynesian, Marxian, Neoliberalism, and mixed an economy (Bonney 1995). This in turn meant that economic geography passed through different stages too, with the most significant change occurring directly after the war; the start of the quantitative revolution. The way that the field of economic geography changes has implications on how the field as a whole is viewed. One of the main points is the interconnectivity with the economy; this also shows how the economy is viewed. Each period has a moment of emergence rapid efflorescence and a period of decline. To understand how economic geography has changed over the last fifty years, a brief explanation of the state of the economy should be covered
Directly after the war the US economy was in a state of strong economic growth due to consumers demand increasing, this was due to there being few opportunities to consume at a desired level during the war. The US held 95% of the worlds manufacturing helping it to recover more quick...
... middle of paper ...
...mic Geography. In: Leyson, A., Lee, R., Mcdowell, L. and Sunley, P. eds. 2011. The SAGE Handbook of Economic Geography. London: SAGE Publications.
Bonney, R. (1995). Economic systems and state finance. Oxford [England]: Clarendon Press.
Hardon, J. A. (2003). The Influence of Marxism in the United States Today. [online] Available at: http://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Communism/Communism_002.htm [Accessed: 21 Feb 2014].
Scott, A. J. (2000). Economic geography: the great half-century. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 24 (4), pp. 483 - 504.
Trainer, T. (2010). MARXIST THEORY; A brief Introduction. [online] Available at: https://socialsciences.arts.unsw.edu.au/tsw/Marx.html [Accessed: 21 Feb 2014].
WiseGEEK. (2010). What Is Keynesian Economics?. [online] Available at: http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-keynesian-economics.htm [Accessed: 21 Feb 2014].
In 1914, World War I began. The United States intended on keeping out of the war, but by 1917, it was no longer just their exports involved, but their soldiers too. This struggle was financed by highly inflationary means and even though the U.S. involvement was limited in time, the postwar economy had to adjust to the lack of heavy military payouts. In 1919, after the armed forces were almost completely discharged, business activity took a sharp down fall. However, a postwar boom allowed for a quick rise in business activity that lasted about a year, taking us into the roaring 20's.
Third, during the war the US economy plummeted as we were still recovering from the great depression. We didn’t have much time since the great depression to the war. The unemployment rate since the great depression was low, but the war started to change that. “The United States was still recovering from the impact of the Great Depression and the unemployment rate was hovering around 25%”(Impact...KLRU). A lot of men were sent off to war so there jobs were not getting done and someone had to get them
The period after the war was thought by many to be a time of peace and prosperity, so it was a great time to have children around 77 million babies were born between 1946 to 1964 (History.com Staff). The ending and winning of the war direct influence on the on the increase of the population and reasonably a link to everything in our recent past since that time period. European countries on the other hand was in a disastrous state after the war. Countries economies were in a dire situation, so many took loans from the Unite States ( Sailus). The loans were not enough, as countries began printing money which caused inflation and their currency to become useless (Sailus). In the United States, the debate over the European economy was popular due to the ending of the Great Depression, men returning to work, and just ending an expensive war (Sailus). Many feared for the stability of the United States’ economy after loaning to Europe
Why did the decade after the First World War become the most prosperous time in American History? Americans consumed without limit and didn’t believe the good times could ever end. In the 1920’s people across the U.S. became increasingly optimistic. The Great War was over and the men were back home safe and sound. The economy was going strong, workers earned higher wages and many new jobs became available. Some of these jobs came from the rapidly growing technology industry. New inventions were popping up everywhere and Americans were more than eager to consume whatever they thought they needed.
In the years prior to the Reagan administration the United States experienced a suffering economy. For around 10 years stagflation had grown rampant. Stagflation is the combination of a stagnant economy due to rising unemployment coupled with increasing inflation. Before stagflation, the United States experienced a time of great prosperity from World War 2 until the 1960s. The reason for this prosperous time was based on the huge production of war materials created by World War 2. The United States sailed on the back of this industry until it died by the late 60s to early 70s (Source 1 // Shmoop Editorial Team). In 1960, the United States was officially in a recession, and by 1970 it had become much more serious. The industry from World War 2 had died, stagflation was on the rise, and the administrations of the time were not helping.
The post-WWII years were a very prosperous time for America, due to numerous factors. However, the two major factors that help produce this economic growth are birthrates/consumer spending increases, and Government spending.
...epression. Obviously the high need for workers during World War II made people earn money. Many of them saved a lot of their money because they knew that they would probably lose their job after the war. Then, when Congress decided to cut tax rates in 1945, Americans had much more money to spend and they felt confident in starting new businesses, which led to a very low unemployment rate after the war and the end of the Great Depression.
involvement in World War I had an immense impact on the U.S. economy. It is considered one of the main causes of the Great Depression. The Allies, and Germany incurred great debts when they traded with the U.S. before the U.S. declared war. The U.S. spent roughly $38 billion on the war. Even the American public helped by buying Liberty Bonds and this caused a downfall in the economy after the war because the debt could not be easily paid. The high international debt also caused economic turmoil in Europe, which affected international trade in the U.S.. The need for American goods decreased, and even the trade of European goods became difficult. The impact this had on the American economy was the first step towards the Great Depression. The involvement of the U.S. in the war was something that was certain to happen. The war was affecting our economy even before the U.S. was involved and, the American soldiers had to help to end the war before the damage became
During the 70?s the world entered a recession because ?the cost of economic growth of other industrialized nations began to rise rapidly?, the United States felt the effect. (AMSA, 2004, ¶ 14). With the development of other nations, came lose of industrial production for the United States of America. American Medical Student Association (2004) stated ?In 1950 we had 60% and by 1980 we only claimed 30% of the world production?, this brought higher prices as well as loses of jobs.
World War II had left the United States into an economic nightmare, but its resilient nature allowed a hasty return to glory. The United States entered the late 1940's as the strongest, most stable and powerful economy in the world (Wikipedia). Trade surplus and booming business's engulfed the country as the nation initiated into a new period of economic miracle. The deciding factors in this were the record breaking trade surpluses and the raising real income and investments into foreign business. Rising productivity and lowering unemployment allowed the nation to conjure a time where confidence in business and government reigned supreme. in business and government grew greatly, as large industrial corporations accounted for vast portions of the national income.
After World War II America was well out of the depression. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ended segregation in the armed forces, and this gave many different races great new benefits. At the end of the war, the United States became a world power. The policy that stated they would not get involved in other country affairs ended. America became a different country after the war, in a good way. The population of America increased after the war (History Ch...
Aside from national security interests domestic thirst for oil boomed. The war brought us out of the Great Depression. During the Depression a traditionally capitalist American society embraced a kind of socialism with the New Deal. WWII transformed the bear turned in a raging bull. Capitalism was back with a vengeance, charging forward stronger than it had ever been before. The heavy industry built up to sustain the war effort was retooled to meet the demands of the emerging consumerist culture of the 1950s. The new explosion of industrial output became so pervasive that the decade ended with President Eisenhower warning of the dangers of the growing “Military-Industrial Complex.”
Silva, Julie A. and Robin M. Leichenko. Economic Geography. Vol. 80, No. 3 (Jul., 2004), pp. 261-
... the economy saw noteworthy improvements for many years to come. Through the production of goods, loans, the stock market boom, and exports, the United States ' economy peaked during and after World War One. The growth was short lived as it was built upon the same conditions that brought about the Great Depression.
Due to ubiquitous demonstrations all over the world, there was social unrest. Compulsory military service added to the social unrest. Fathers and Sons left to fight the war without much hope of returning back alive thus adding to the civil unrest. As always, any period of social unrest has an adverse affect on the economy. Due to the huge war expenses and lack of man power to run the economy, the late 60’s and early 70’s experienced an economic downturn in the United States which was felt throughout the world.