Growth Of The Economy In The 1950's

During the 1950s, after World War II, the economy was booming, and many Americans were living “the American Dream,” or enjoying material comfort. By 1956, the majority of Americans no longer had industrial jobs, such as working in the factories, producing goods. Instead, more Americans were working in professional occupations that paid more than the industrial jobs, such as sales, insurance, communications, and advertising. In addition, Americans in the 1950s had more leisure time than ever, working a 40-hour week and enjoying multiple weeks of vacation per year, a new ideology for American workers. Also, Americans owned more time-saving devices than ever, such as the washing machine and dishwasher, which lead to even more spare time. Along
One of the largest factors contributing to this growth was the vast spike in Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, which is the total value of goods produced and services provided in a country during one year. In 1945, the United States’ Gross Domestic Product was $228 billion. Less than thirty years later, in 1974, the Gross Domestic Product had increased to $1.5 trillion in the United States, an increase of almost $1.3 trillion. After this immense growth, the United States economy represented around 35% of the world’s industrial output, making it three times larger than the second largest economy, Japan. This huge growth resulted from around $200 billion in World War II bonds maturing, which are loans to the government during war, and low-income farmers moving into higher-paying jobs in cities. Furthermore, this economic incline trend was not a temporary event, as the trend continued to rise up until 2008, when a recession occurred. However, the rise continued again after 2009, proving that the initial increase in Gross Domestic Product still continues into the United States
Polio, a disease that attacks the nervous system and can potentially cripple its subject, affected humanity throughout history. However, the first major polio outbreak in America occurred in Vermont, during the summer of 1894, which lead to thousands being affected by the 20th century in the United States. The disease mainly affected children, but one of the most notable adult figures in American history stricken with polio was President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was diagnosed with polio at age 39 and shortly after was partially paralyzed. Fortunately, on March 26, 1953, American medical researcher Dr. Jonas Salk announced that he had successfully discovered a vaccine the virus that caused polio. Because the disease mainly affected children, Salk was considered a hero at the time. Today, there are only a handful of polio cases in the United States per year, manly due to Americans bringing polio back from developing nations where it is still a major