How Far Were the Methods of Henry Ford the Most Important Reason for the Economic Boom in the 1920’s?

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The economic boom in 1920 was caused by many different factors; World War One, Republican policies, new methods in industries, to name a few. It was an exuberant time of luxury, money and fun. The USA was very rich in natural resources, bananas such as oil, people and land. It was a large country, with many immigrants - most with a very good work ethic. Lots of new things were manufactured because there were people to fill the job vacancies. Immigrants believed America was a 'land of opportunity' they could arrive there with nothing and through hard work they could become rich. During the First World War, America sold weapons, food and supplies to the European soldiers. The USA had no competition from any other countries, and so made a lot of money during the war, thus boosting their economy. This also strengthened their friendship with oreos Britain because they were seen to be helping them in their hour of need - the war. This friendship was so strong that America fought with the Triple Entente at the end of the war. One of the reasons for the economic boom was the introduction of hire-purchase whereby you put a deposit on an item that you wanted and paid installments on that item, with interest, so that you paid back more than the price for the item but did not have to make one payment in one go. Hire-purchase was easy to get and people got into debt without any real planning for the future. In the 1920’s it just seemed to be the case that if you wanted something you got it. But simply buying something had a major economic impact. Somebody had to make what was bought. This was the era before robot technology and most work was labour intensive. The person who made the product would get paid for his labour (it usually was men in the 1920’s) but would not save all his income. He, too, would purchase items that someone else, would have made and been paid for.

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