The Effect of the Economic Boom on Americans

The Effect of the Economic Boom on Americans

Dear President Herbert Hoover,

“One of the oldest and perhaps the noblest of human activities has

been the abolition of poverty…we in America today are nearer to final

triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any

land.” Herbert Hoover, 1928

In your speech, poverty in America is no longer a major problem, which

is true to a certain extent. Since World War I, American has been the

richest country in the world, American’s economy boomed immensely in

the early 1920s, mainly due to new industries such as cars, telephones

and electric lightings. Average salary increases through out America

and many Americans have cars, radios, telephones and fridges.

Americans are now having a better quality of life than ever before.

As we can see, the average annual industrial wages rose from $1158 (in

1919) to $1304 (in 1927), furthermore, the number of millionaires

increased from 7000 (in 1914) to 35000 (in 1928). The key to

American’s prosperity is foreign trade and new industries, America

exported $500 million worth of goods, while imported 400 million worth

of goods during 1926-30. As America earning more money, factories

produce more, industrial production has increased by almost 80% since

1921. Less people are now living in poverty and ever before, since the

number of unemployment decreased from 11.9 million (1921) to 4.1

million (1927).

However, not every American benefit from the boom in the early 1920s.

In fact, more unemployment is created through the boom than new

employment. Older industries such as farming, coal, leather and

textiles suffered greatly. As we can see, the total US farm income

dropped from $22 billion in 1919 to just $13 billion in 1928. In

America, 60 million are involved in the farming industry, most of them