Chapter 26

What did the success of Mcdonald’s provide an example of?

The development of new trends in the US in the post WW2 years.

Were many Americans optimistic after 1945?

Yes, in spite of anxiets aobut he COld war

What did a baby boom bring?

Unpredecented popualtion growth

What did large corporatoins increasingly dominate?

the business world

Did Unions grow post-1945?

yes

Did most workers imrpove their lives post 1945?

yes

What flooded the market and found their way into most american homes?

technology and new products

Did the wartime return of prosperity after the great depression coitnue in the postwar years?

yes

In th e next several decades Americans enjoyed one of the mos sustaine dperiods of…

ecnomic expansion the country had ever known

What did the US solidy in the next several decades?

its postiion as the richest nation in the world

What happened to teh gross national product (GNP)?

Jumped over $200 billion in 1945, almost $300 billion in 1950, above $500 billion in 1960, reached $685 in 1965, and soared to $970 billion by 1970

What percent of all faimiles in the country wwere now part of the middle class?

60%—a dramtic change form the class tructure in teh 19th and early 20th centurg

What fueled ecnomoic growth?

personal resources

What were american consumers able to do during WW2?

spend all they earne d ebecuas efactories had concentrated on manufring the ships, planes, tanks, and other equipemnt needed for war

How mcuh did purchasing power rise between 1946 and 1960?

22%

What is discretionary income?

money to satisyfy wants as well as needs

How many families by 1960 had discrtionary income?

3/5

What fractino of the wrodl’s goods did the US produce?

1/2

Could average americans afford the products they prodiced?

yes, unlike their parnets

What allowed people of all socila classes to buy consumer goods?

hihger real wages

What did comusmer poower, in contrast to the underconsumption of the 1920s and 19302 spurr?

the econmy

Adolf A. Berle Jr. said that ermicanas were caught up in a spirit of…

“galloping capitliasm”

What industry b=played a key part in the economic boom?

automboile industry

What became a status symbol?

the automobile

What could a fancy car reflect for aspiring members of the middle and upper-middle classes?

economic achievement

What was more important for young, particually working class individuals in a car?

speed

WWhat also stimulated auto production and so contributed to prospoerty?

the delveopmnet of a massive interstate highway system

What did the Eisteinhower andministraiotn udnerscore?

the american committment to the car

Interrstate Highway Act of 1956

Provided $26 billion, the largest public works expendtiure tin American history, to build over 40,000 milels of federal hgihways, linking all aprts of the US

What prblem did highways add to?

pollution

What did highways trigger?

urban flight

How was the highway system justified?

it would make evecuation quicker in the event of a nuclear attack

What did the massive push towards automboiles help craete a nation depedent on?

a consntant supply of cheap and plentiful oil

What did house construciton contrbute towards?

ecnomic growth

What happened to the percentage of all american fimlies who owned their own homes?

increase from 43% in 1940 to 64% ini 1970

What was much of the increase in faimliies owning heir own homes coming from?

the GI bill

What did the GI bill provide?

returnign servicemen priority for many jobs, educational ebenfits, low0interst home mortgages

How did fedearl policy support development?

allowed business to buy almost 80% of the facories built by the govnerment during the war for much less than they cost

National Secuirty Act (1947)

Created the department of defense and authorized an inital defense budget of $13 billion

Why did defense budget for the deparmtnet of defense increase?

the onset of the kroean war

What did the federal' govnerment’s spending on war stimulate?

The aircraft and elecontric industries

Why did many citiznes wlecome the huge expeindutres on defense?

they supported the americna stance in the strugle against commnism

Peaceful, prosperousm and productive, the nation had become the…

“afluent society”

What happened to inflation in the postwar period?

lsowed fomr an average of 7% a year in the 1940s too 2-3% per year in the 1950s

What happened to the concenreation of income

It remained the same

What happened to the ranks of middle-class americans?

it grew

After 1945, wwhat did the major coprorations increase their hold on?

the american govenrment

What happened to industiral concentration after the war?

it continuted

What is an oligopoly

domination of a given industry by a few firms—a feature of American capilitsm

What did the booming economy encourage the devleopment of?

congolomertes

What is a congolmerate?

a firm that diversified with holdings in a variety of industies

What did congolomerates protect comapnies aginst?

instabiilty in one particluar area and the further development of fiannce capitalism to help put deals together

Wwhat did large corpoations move increasingly into

foregin markets, planning to build plants overseas where labor costs were cheaper

What happened to corporate planning?

it devleoped rapidly

Firms sought managers who coudl….

assess informaiot,w eigh marketing trends, and make reational decisoins

What were mangers now trained in?

business schoos, and now even more preicse in the effort to maximize profit

In the years after WW2, the US reversed ad 150-year trend anbd became lsss a nation of goods proucers and more a country of…

service providers

What happened ot the percentage of clerial workers between 1947 and 1957?

increased 23%

What happeneed to the number of salaired middle-class employees between 1947 and 1957?

rose 61%

By 1956, a majority of American workes helped what kind of jobs?

white-collar jobs

What were the new white-collar jobs paid by?

salary rather than by hour

How did people live during this time?c

comforatbly, enjoying an abundance of leisure time

Work in the huge corporations became even more…

impersonal than before

What style predomianted in many firms?

bureaucratic style

What did the popular novel and film of the 1950s, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit depict?

white collar employyes seemingly dresing, thinking, and acting the same

Just as product sandarizaiton becamie incerasily imporant, what became necessary?

individual acceptance of company nroms

What did blue-collar factory workers do?

worked on assebly line and made the goods others enjoyed

What hapened to the lives of blue collar workers?

they were more uncofmoforable than ever

What did casual enmployment now consist of?

service work

What did casual emplohment done by?

minorities, teenagers, and women gradually returning to the labor force

What happened to unions by the end of WW2?

athey beacme even stronger—more members

How as the immediate powerwar period for workers?

difficult

What did the cancellation of miltiary orders lead to for workers?

layoffs and prompted fears of a postwar depression like WW1

What happened to the no-strike pledge after WW2?

Workers scrapped their no-strike pledge

What did the scarpping of no-strike pledges lead to?

a series of strikes

What did strikes do to middle class americans who looked for stable employment paths?

alienated them

What provoked the antagonism of conservative republicans who felt that unionization had gone too far?

a series of strikes

What happene d to unions in the late 1940s?

they adopted a less conforntaionla approach towrard management, and anew acording emerged

What did big business now recognize?

the basic rights of industiral workers

What did union leaders and members in turn acknowledge?

the perogatives of management and the need for a fair profit

Cporations in the same insutry agreed to cooperate rahter than..

compete with one another over labor costs

What does COLA stand for?

cost-of-living adjustment

Companies made ____ tow workers that impvoed thier daily lives.

material concessions

What did General Motoors offer the United Automobile workers in 1948?

a contract that included a COLA and a 2% annual improvemnt factor wage increase intended toshare GM’s productive gains with workers

What did the new organization after merger of the AFL and CIO in 1955 represent?

90% of the country’s now larger cohort of 17.5 million union members

Who led the merger of the AFL and CIO?

Goerge Meany

By the end of the decade, what principle was built into most union contracts?

the COLA principle

What did union gains come at

a price

With higher, more preidictable incomes, workers were more willing to….

limit strike acitivy and surrendedr the last vestiges of autonomy in teh workplace

Co-opted by the materalistic benefits big busines sprovided workers fell increainglu under the control of whom?

middle-level managers

Workers wathced anxisou.yl as companies….

automated at hoome ro expanded abroad, where the labor was cheaper

What happened to tle labor movement in the 1960s?

it satlled

In the course of 1 generation, what did mechanization and conslidation do to the agricluture world?

It now supported 1 of every 20 americans instead of 1 of 5 prior to WW2

What brought massive gains to productivity in farming?

improed planting and harvesting machines and bettter fertilizers and pesticides

What did icnreasing proditiblity lead to in agriculture?

consolidation

What happened to the average farm size in the 25 years after 1945?

it doubled

What did farms specilize in?

cash crops tlike corn and soybeans that were more pprofitable than hay or oats that oculd be used to feed animals

Family farms often found it difficult to compete with….

the techonoligcally superior “agribusinesses” and wathced their share of the market fall