Buy essay on The Period between the 1920s and the 1960s as an Era of Reform

The history of the United States between 1920s and 1960s included many events that impacted both the situation in the country, and the world history. During this time the American people have experienced many changes, ups and downs, trying to achieve prosperity and peace for their country. This period can be divided into several parts, each equally important for the formation of the American nation into what it is today.
The period from 1921 to 1929 is called “Prosperity”. The era of prosperity is a period of economic recovery in the U.S. after the First World War. Postwar America becomes a leader in economic growth, and further consolidates its leading position in the world. By the end of the 1920s America produced almost as many industrial products, as the entire rest of the world. The salary of an average worker was increased by 25%. The unemployment rate did not exceed 5%, and in some periods – 3%. The consumer credit was growing popular. In the period of prosperity the price level was completely stable. The rates of economic development the U.S. was the highest in the world (Boyle 43-51).
In 1920 the U.S. became the first country to experience a mass automobilization. In 1929 5,4 million automobiles were produced, in total in the 1920s about 25 million cars were released in the U.S. (with a population of 125 million).
With the formation of the Exchange on Wall Street many started playing at the stock market. Especially popular in the 1920s were margin loans. The essence of the loan was simple – one could buy shares paying only 10% of their value. But broker at any time could require payment of a debt and it had to be returned in 24 hours. This was called margin requirements, and it usually caused the sale of shares, bought on credit. On October 24, 1929 New York brokers who gave out margin loans, started requiring payments on them.

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Everyone started to get rid of shares. This caused a shortage of funds in banks and led to the collapse of the sixteen thousand banks, which allowed international bankers not only to buy up the banks of competitors, but to buy major U.S. companies for mere penny. When the society went completely bankrupt, bankers of the U.S. Federal Reserve decided to cancel the gold standard of the United States and to collect the remaining gold in the U.S.
These events marked the beginning of the Great Depression (1929-1933) – a recession of the economy, which began in 1929 and ended in early 1933. Industrial cities suffered the most, practically any construction was stopped. Because of the reduction in effective demand, agricultural products prices fell by 40-60%. During the crisis industrial production in the U.S. declined by 46%. Rates of shares of industrial companies fell by 87%. Unemployment reached colossal proportions. According to official statistics, in 1933 there were 14 million unemployed in the U.S (Takaki 18-27).
The Great Depression followed after the stock market crash in 1929: the collapse in stock prices that began on the “Black Thursday” October 24, 1929, reached catastrophic scale on the “Black Monday” (October 28) and “Black Tuesday” (October 29). October 29, 1929 is the day of the Wall Street stock market crash.
Economists have not agreed on the causes of the Great Depression. There are several theories on this subject, but, apparently, a combination of different factors played its role in the emergency of the economic crisis.
According to the Keynesian explanation, tying the money to gold reserves restricted the money supply. At the same time, the production grew introducing such new types of goods as automobiles, airplanes, radio and TV sets, etc. As a result of the limited money supply and growth of commodity mass there was great deflation – price falling, which led to financial instability, bankruptcy of many enterprises, non-performing loans. According to the monetarist theory, the crisis was caused by monetary policy of the Federal Reserve System. The causes of depression also include stock bubble – investments in production in excess of the real need, rapid population growth – a large number of children per family was typical of the old agrarian mode of production, but with the progress of medicine and the temporary rise of living standard, the natural wastage from diseases seriously reduced (Boyle 46-49).