1. Key Question 5: What were the major changes in the U. S
Key Question 5: What were the major changes in the U.S. economy from 1941 to 2000?

2. Review: Post WWII America
GI Bill
Baby Boom
1 baby born every 7 sec.
White Flight to the Suburbs
Increased $-
rebuilding Japan and Europe
No competition

3. Shopping Consumerism – the obsession of buying goods
Planned Obsolescence – making products that will become outdated on purpose
Malls
Credit

4. (Non)Mobile Society Fast food Cars Interstates Television
Luxury moves to necessity
Cars
No longer 1 per family
Interstates
Television
9% of homes in 1950 had TV’s, 90% by 1960

5. Inventions of the 1950s 1950: credit card
1951: Super glue, Power steering, videotape recorder
1952: Mr. Potato Head, diet soft drink, hydrogen bomb
1953: Radial tires, musical synthesizer
1954: nonstick pan, McDonald’s
1956: computer hard disk, hovercraft, “Liquid Paper” (white out)
1958: laser, Hula Hoop
1959: internal pacemaker, Barbie Doll, microchip

6. More Events of the 1950s!
1950: 1st Organ Transplant, "Peanuts"
Cartoon Strip
1951: Color TV Introduced
1952: Car Seat Belts Introduced, Polio Vaccine Created
1953: DNA Discovered
1954: Report Says Cigarettes Cause Cancer
1955: Disneyland Opens, McDonald's Corporation Founded
1956: T.V. Remote Control Invented, Velcro Introduced
1957: Dr. Seuss Publishes The Cat in the Hat, Soviet Satellite Sputnik Launches Space Age
1958: Lego Toy Bricks First Introduced, NASA Founded, Peace Symbol Created

7. Health & Lifestyle
What changes did you notice about health care in America?
What do the previous inventions tell us about the lifestyle of a typical American? Why?

8. James Conant’s attack on High School Curriculum
Conant believed the students needed more English, Math, Foreign Language to compete in the Democratic Society (1959)
Reaction to Sputnik
Falling Behind the Soviets
Question: Do we have something similar happening today in America? Why or why not?

9. 70s Malaise Economy struggles Effects OPEC Oil embargo-1973
Response to US support of Israel in Yom Kippur War
Import 50% more oil from 1972 to 1973
$3 per barrel to $12 per barrel almost overnight
Gas rations
Money feels worthless due to inflation
Effects
Smaller cars
Japanese cars take over
Search for alternative energy
Speed limits of 55 mph
Dow Jones loses 45% of value

10. Economic Insecurity
Meat prices rose at 75 percent annual rate in 1973.
From 1972 to 1973 the cost of a bushel of wheat rose 240 percent.
Soybeans rose from $3.50 a bushel in 1972 to $12.00 in 1973.

11. 70s Malaise (con.) Vietnam Presidency No longer feel like #1
North Vietnam takes over South when we leave
Presidency
Lose faith in president’s office because of Watergate
Ford pardons Nixon
Carter’s problems
Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979
Further Economic woes
Insult Congress
Soviet Union invades Afghanistan in 1979
Nuclear power concerns (3 mile island)

13. A New Era Reagan wins election of 1980 Gov’t turns conservative
Traditional American Values!!!
Deregulation – reduced gov’t rules of businesses

15. Economy Reaganomics – cut taxes, cut gov’t spending
Federal Debt – money owed by the US gov’t
Recession, then recovery
Voters respond

16. 1980s Econ History

17. 1990s Tech DVDs Internet Pagers become popular and then obsolete
Cell phones take off by the end of the decade
and buddy chats come around
Windows
Dot coms (new websites) make people overnight millionaires/billionaires

18. Economic Boom Major economic growth for 6 straight years
Raising the Gross Domestic Product – value of all goods and services in a country
Balanced the budget – 1st time in 24 years no money added to debt

20. Computer Regulation Napster- MP3 music for free
80 million users + high speed Internet = No royalties
Government decides it is copyright violation
Shutdown service in 2001

22. Any idea what is our debt now?