Matthews 1
Gregory Matthews
American Lit
Draft 2
1-13-10
Economy Of 1920’s
In the 1920’s the economy went way up starting with inventions and everyone spending
their money for goods. The stores would raise their wages for the workers. The shoppers would
go out and buy the big items like cars or washing machines. The rate after the war of people
buying these goods was really fast. Furthermore, the economy of the teens was very low because
of the war, but once they highered the wages the people would go out and buy more goods.
Even though all of this sounded good it eventually had to come to an end. The economy in
1920’s was the best time to be buying goods. The years of the 1920’s were one of the biggest
increases in the economy for the stock market.
The United States had just got out of the First World War and the U.S wanted to start it
off good. The wealthy before this time would only be able to afford the cars and the nice goods,
but now because of all of the prices being lowered and people buying more goods not only the
wealthy could buy the goods, but also the middle class can afford them. In this time period there
were more millionaires and billionaires than any other time. Even though many people had to use
loans just to get what the people wanted it still helped out the economy. The people would higher
the wages so more people would go out and be buying goods. More and more people would use
electricity than people would ever before. During the war there were very few jobs that the
people could get, but when the war was over there was more job openings for the people.
Installment plans were major for the 1920’s. Many people would use the plan so that they
could pay later. They could only use the plan with the big items like cars or furniture. The
Matthews 2
companies thought that they would make more money with the installment plan because of how
many people would go after it.
Since in the 1920’s they had many good inventions the economy would definitely go up
because of all of the trade they could do with other countries. With good trade we could get more
supplies and more of the wages for the workers will go up. So for the 1920’s it was a good time
to start trading.
The new technology that came out in the 1920’s was a major part of people’s lives. One
of the major new technologies that were brought out in the 20’s was that movies would have
color and sound. The next major invention was the radio. The radio back then would provide
entertainment, news, and what new technologies would be coming out. The airplane came in the
20’s which was major for the war and attacks.
The automobile was used more in the 1920’s than any other time. Many had problems
with getting oil and many had problems with their breakdowns. In the mid 1920’s the average
person would be able to afford an automobile. In that time there would be one automobile for
every five Americans. The automobile would later help with social and transportation for
American people.
It all sounds good until one thing went wrong over night, which would eventually end up
being The Great Depression. The stocks went down a little bit and people started to buy fewer
goods, which would make the market crash. Since the stock market crashed everyone lost
confidence in the economy from there. The income tax at the beginning of the 20’s were very
low at 15% and at the end of the 20’s the tax was at the highest it has been. For the oversees
countries they build tariffs so that it would be very hard for them to trade.
Matthews 3
To be in the 20’s was a good time and a bad time to be in. From the good inventions to
the economy just booming. Eventually the economy went bad because of how much people were
spending. The wages being raised helped out these people but eventually it had to come to an
end.