Economic development and characteristics of the United States after World War II
After the Second World War, the economic strength of the United States suddenly increased, occupying an all-round advantage in the capitalist world economy. After completing the transition from wartime economy to peacetime, the American economy has continued to grow on the basis of the above advantages since the 1950s. From 1955 to 1968, the gross national product of the United States has increased at an annual rate of 4%. Although the overall economic growth rate of western European countries and Japan caught up with that of the United States in the same period (France 5.7%, Federal Republic of Germany 5. 1%, Japan 7.2% and Britain 2.8%), the American economy remained dominant for a long time after the war. It is particularly noteworthy that during this period, the American economy experienced a sustained growth of 106 months, and this record was not broken until the so-called "new economy" appeared in the 1990s.
The rapid development of postwar economy and the maintenance of its dominant position in the United States largely benefited from the federal government's intervention in the economy. After the war, the American government intervened in the economy not in the form of industrial nationalization, but in the form of financial means to reproduce capitalism. Its main feature is that it constantly relies on increasing financial expenditure in the national budget, relying on military orders and implementing preferential tax rates for monopoly organizations and even small and medium-sized private enterprises to stimulate production and increase social fixed capital investment. Although the United States did not nationalize the industry after the war and the economic system still maintained a typical capitalist private ownership, the federal government of the United States invested heavily in many emerging industrial sectors, major scientific research projects and modern public facilities after the war. For example, the US government's investment in the development of atomic energy industry is 1945 to 1970. Since the late 1960s, more than $5 billion has been invested in the aerospace industry every year. The reason why the American government did this was because of the need of the post-war scientific and technological revolution. Science and technology are productive forces, and the development of science and technology has a direct effect on the post-war economic prosperity of the United States. However, the investment risk of new technology industries is very high, so the US government took the initiative to undertake the investment tasks of these departments after the war. After the war, the American government's intervention in the economy also showed that, in order to maintain a high export level, on the one hand, it exported through the state purchase under the "foreign aid" project, on the other hand, it subsidized the export of some American products. Exports provided under "foreign aid" accounted for 46% of American exports in 1949, about 30% in the 1950s and about 20% in the 1960s. In addition, the U.S. government has established scientific research and education outlets throughout the country and implemented social security policies to ease domestic class contradictions and further promote the development of productive forces.
The development of American economy after World War II has a series of new characteristics. First of all, in 1950s and 1960s, there appeared a "golden age" in American economic growth, which was called "golden age" by western economists. After the development of the "golden age", the gross national product of the United States rose from 196 1 year to 197 1 dollar. From 1965 to 1970, American industrial production increased at the rate of 18%. 1970, the United States owned 25% of the world's coal production, 2 1% of crude oil production and 25% of steel production. 197 1 America has1.10/100 million cars, and 83% of households own at least one car. 1970 The agricultural products in the United States doubled compared with 1950, and a farmer could feed 47.338+0 people. The main reasons for the "golden age" of American economic growth after the war are: (1) the above-mentioned American federal government stepped up its intervention in the economy; (2) The militarization of the national economy strengthened in response to the Cold War greatly stimulated economic growth; (3) The post-war technological revolution promoted the rapid economic development; (4) Take advantage of the post-war economic advantages, expand the export of goods and capital, and make full use of cheap foreign resources, especially oil resources, so as to greatly obtain high profits; (5) The domestic political situation in the United States was quite stable after the war.
Secondly, the focus of American economic development gradually shifted to the west and south after the war. The traditional industrial area in the United States is in the northeast. With the rapid development of emerging industries after the war, the western and southern parts of the United States, without the burden of traditional industries, are particularly suitable for developing emerging industries such as aircraft manufacturing, petroleum industry and petrochemical industry because they have the raw material of emerging industries-oil. At the same time, new consortia in the western and southern parts of the United States have sprung up, and they have formed fierce competition with traditional consortia in the northeast in economy and even politics. For example, the capitalists in the Pacific coast of California formed the California consortium and controlled the largest bank in the United States-Bank of America; In southern Texas, due to wartime oil exploitation and the expansion of military industry, the Texas consortium was formed. California consortium has become the third largest consortium in the United States since 1950s, and its strength is second only to Morgan Consortium and Rockefeller Financial Group. Although the strength of Texas consortium is not good, it often forms alliances with other consortia against the old consortia in Northeast China, such as Morgan and Rockefeller Financial Group. The growth of economic strength in the western and southern parts of the United States and the rise of new consortia in the western and southern parts of the United States have also had a great impact on American politics. Before World War II, the power of successive American governments was mainly controlled by the consortia in the Northeast, but this political situation began to change after the war, and the consortia in the west and south gradually competed with the consortia in the Northeast politically. The political power of the United States is no longer monopolized by the "snow area" in the northeast, and the "sunshine zone" in the west and south begins to share the political power.
Third, modern multinational companies have risen in the United States. Multinational companies appeared in the first half of the 20th century, but before the Second World War, the early multinational companies still focused on local areas, and their economic strength and business diversification did not reach the level of modern multinational companies. After the war, modern multinational corporations first achieved unprecedented development in the United States and played a decisive role in the economic development of the United States and even the world. The reason why modern multinational companies first developed rapidly in the United States is that (1) the United States grasped the leadership of the world economy by virtue of its absolute economic, political and military advantages after the war. Therefore, American monopoly enterprises can freely expand overseas, make full use of global resources and the world market, expand and maintain their absolute share in the world market through direct investment, and thus win high profits. (2) The American government adopts a very tolerant attitude towards enterprises, especially large companies. From the end of 19 to the beginning of the 20th century, the United States experienced three waves of corporate mergers. The first wave of mergers took place at the turn of the 20th century, mainly when large enterprises in the same industrial sector merged with small enterprises. The second wave of merger took place in the 1920s, which was characterized by controlling production, supply and processing of raw materials, and finally controlling the sales market. The third wave of merger took place after World War II, from the mid-1950s to the 1970s. It was characterized by mixed merger, that is, unrelated enterprises in product production and sales merged and annexed, thus forming a mixed joint company. From the very beginning, such a hybrid joint company not only aims at competing for the domestic market in the United States, but also takes the world market as the guide, designs goods for the world market, produces them in several countries at the same time according to the different distribution of global resources (material resources and human resources), and aims its own financial and sales strategies at the world market. As a result, large American companies merged after the war became modern multinational companies. They have huge capital and extensive business scope, and their business operation emphasizes "global strategy", so they can make huge profits. For example, the original main business of American General Motors Company was to manufacture automobiles, but after World War II, the company not only manufactured automobiles, but also manufactured aircraft engines, intercontinental missiles, submarines, spaceships and household appliances, and set up subsidiaries all over the world to form a global production and sales network, reducing costs and improving profits. In 1960s, AT&T incorporated 65,438+020 different industrial and commercial enterprises, and expanded its business to the whole world. It established more than 65,438+050 subsidiaries in 57 overseas countries, and its business scope expanded to industries and departments such as bread and food, man-made fibers and textiles, construction, tourism, printing and publishing, finance and insurance. Of course, the telephone and communication industry is still its main business.
Finally, the intensity of the post-war economic crisis in the United States has been greatly reduced. From the end of World War II to the end of 1960s, the United States did not experience the economic crisis of 1929 ~ 1933, but experienced five economic recessions (or five general economic crises). The first economic recession experienced by the United States after the war was from 1948 to 1949, during which industrial production dropped by 8.3% and the unemployment rate reached 5%. The second economic recession lasted from August 1953 to August 1954. Industrial production dropped by 9. 1%, and the unemployment rate reached 6.2%. The third economic recession lasted from1July 1957 to1April 1958. Although the time is short, the degree is very serious. Industrial production dropped suddenly 13.5%, and the unemployment rate reached 7.5%. 1February 1960 to 196 1 February 1996, the fourth postwar economic recession occurred in the United States. Industrial production dropped by 8.6%, and the unemployment rate was around 7%. From 1969, 10 to 1970, 1 10, the United States experienced the fifth economic recession after the war. Industrial production dropped by 8. 1%, and the unemployment rate reached more than 7%. From the above series of figures, we can see that although the postwar American economy has not got rid of the inherent cyclical cycle of the capitalist economy, economic crises or recessions will still occur occasionally, but the intensity of economic crises is not great. For example, the decline of industrial production is basically below 10%, only once at 13.5%, but it is precisely this time that lasts the shortest. On the other hand, the post-war American government implemented a series of Keynesian anti-crisis measures against the economic crisis, that is, using deficit finance to stimulate aggregate demand through inflation, so as to curb the damage of the economic crisis, avoid the collapse of a large number of enterprises in the crisis, and at the same time control the sharp rise of unemployment rate and stabilize social order. Of course, these state intervention measures of the American government, while solving the crisis, inevitably led to a large increase in national debt and intensified inflation, which made it difficult to go back to the past and had a strong negative impact on the American economy in the 1970s.