The 1920's Boom in the United States

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The 1920's Boom in the United States 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. These helped to modernise existing industries and to develop new ones at the same time. Electricity was the base for all of these changes. It provided a cheap and more efficient source of power for the factories to use. It led to the production of new consumer goods such as fridge – freezers, vacuum cleaners and radios. Without the technological changes that took place during the 1920’s in America, the other factors that contributed would have either not happened at all or would have made little difference to the economy of the USA. Other important factors that helped to bring about the boom were the impact of the First World War; confidence; credit and resources. 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

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