Rise of Mass Production and Consumption


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Rise of Mass Production and Consumption

Rise of Mass Production and Consumption: After a short period of economic trouble in the years after the First World War, the US economy resumed its strength in the early 1920s. An important feature of the US economy of the 1920s was mass production, although it had begun a few years earlier.

 

First Mass Production of Cars: A well-known pioneer of mass production was the car manufacturer Henry Ford. He adapted the 'assembly line' to his new car plant in Detroit. He realised that this method would allow a faster and cheaper way of producing vehicles.

This assembly line forced the worker to repeat a single task mechanically and continuously which is dictated by the conveyor belt. He had no time to take a break or chat with his fellow workers. As a result, Henry Ford's cars came off the assembly line at three-minute intervals, a speed much faster than that achieved by previous methods. The T-Model Ford was the world's first mass produced car.

 

Effects of Assembly Line on Workers: At first, workers could not cope with the stress of working on assembly line, they quit jobs in large numbers. In desperation, Ford doubled the daily wages of the workers to $ 5. Ford paid high wages to the workers to do monotonous tasks, but recovered this cost through faster production.

Ford described his decision to double the daily wage as the best cost-cutting decision he had ever made. Car production in the US rose from 2 million in 1919 to more than 5 million in 1929. Even workers could afford to purchase cars.

 

Effects of Mass Production on Other Goods: Mass production lowered cost and prices of engineered goods like refrigerators, washing machines, radios, gramophone players, etc. The demand for goods like refrigerators and washing machines was also increased by a boom in house construction and home ownership. This was financed by loans.

 

Effects on US Economy: The housing and consumer boom of the 1920s created the basis of prosperity in the US . Large investments in housing and household goods seemed to create a cycle of higher employment and incomes, rising consumption demand, more investment and yet more employment and incomes. In 1923, the US resumed exporting capital to the rest of the world and became the largest overseas lender. US imports and capital exports also boosted European recovery and world trade and income growth over the next 6 years.

 

#Monotonous :- Something which is boring because it is always the same . 

 
 


Students / Parents Reviews [10]