Meg Jacobs Pocketbook Politics Summary

Over the years, Americans’ access to credit has grown dramatically, especially in the 19th and 20th century. American citizens, specifically in the working and middle class, wanted to participate more as consumers, but did not necessarily have the funds to support this. As American ideals for living standards continued to become more luxurious, consumers were forced to pay the price, regardless of their income. However, citizens were in favor of the better living standards, which is what allowed the growth of credit and access of credit. Although government policies played a role, cultural forces were most responsible for the growth of credit access in the 19th and 20th century. The American lifestyle forced credit access to increase because consumer demands were constantly growing and expectations of consumerism were demanded by society normalities. Government policies and intervention followed soon thereafter.
In Meg Jacobs’ Pocketbook Politics, she argues that many businesses were attempting to attract consumers by cutting prices of their

This helped increase the employment rate and stimulated the American economy because there was a need for the homes to be built and because consumers were able to purchase homes with credit and mortgages, the market system was benefitting greatly. Without consumers driving the need for more homes, employment rates would not have increased and this would not have had as strong of an impact on the economy. Additionally, because consumers had greater access to credit, manufactures also benefitted because they still were making a profit because consumers could buy their goods. This shows that the government’s goals of the New Deal were accomplished because Americans were able to find more work opportunities and the economy was greatly benefitting from the increased workers and increased