How Did The Marshall Plan Affect The Economy
The Marshall Plan was a key action taken by the United States during this period. Europe had been devastated during World War II. It had also been a key market for US goods. The US knew that Europe needed aid to recover. Not only would European markets be reopened to US trade, they would owe the United States for their recovery as well. The Marshall Plan would lead to an era of great US influence in Europe. Europe started recovering, and West Germany began to revitalize its industrial might. The speed of German recovery even frightened France as well (Text Pgs 782-785).
The vast expansion of the automobile industry was key to US economic expansion. During World War II, many factories had been geared towards outfitting military units with vehicles. After the war, the war level demand dropped and industry had spare capacity. Vehicles are particularly important to an economy, because of all of the components that go into making a car. Mass production meant that a factory commonly specialized in one, or a small amount of parts. Many factories would need to be set up to facilitate all of the parts that go into the vehicles. This meant untold thousands of jobs, and a trickledown effect of increased jobs for supply chain vendors. That, and the massive amounts of money spent on infrastructure to support these vehicles led to an increase in the economy. As long as factories are based in the US, all of money …show more content…
Large sums of money were devoted to research and development. These development projects would lead to benefits for the civilian population. The country had to be ready for all-out war with the USSR, so spending on arms increased jobs in the manufacturing sector. The Cold War also let the US to establish a network of bases across the world. This would lead to a de facto US hegemony being established to contain the USSR. The Cold War would make the US invest in the country, and become stronger for
The vast expansion of the automobile industry was key to US economic expansion. During World War II, many factories had been geared towards outfitting military units with vehicles. After the war, the war level demand dropped and industry had spare capacity. Vehicles are particularly important to an economy, because of all of the components that go into making a car. Mass production meant that a factory commonly specialized in one, or a small amount of parts. Many factories would need to be set up to facilitate all of the parts that go into the vehicles. This meant untold thousands of jobs, and a trickledown effect of increased jobs for supply chain vendors. That, and the massive amounts of money spent on infrastructure to support these vehicles led to an increase in the economy. As long as factories are based in the US, all of money …show more content…
Large sums of money were devoted to research and development. These development projects would lead to benefits for the civilian population. The country had to be ready for all-out war with the USSR, so spending on arms increased jobs in the manufacturing sector. The Cold War also let the US to establish a network of bases across the world. This would lead to a de facto US hegemony being established to contain the USSR. The Cold War would make the US invest in the country, and become stronger for