美国社会与文化5-8

1、Chapter 5 Economy of the United StatesA historic overviewThe economic history of the United States has its roots in European colonization in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Marginal colonial economies grew into 13 small, independent farming economies, which joined together in 1776 to form the Un

2、ited States of America. In 230 years the United States grew to a huge, integrated, industrialized economy that makes up over a quarter of the world economy. The main causes were a large unified market, a supportive political-legal system, vast areas of highly productive farmlands, vast natural resou

3、rces (especially timber, coal, iron, and oil), and an entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to investing in material and human capital. The economy has maintained high wages, attracting immigrants by the millions from all over the world. Technological and industrial factors also played a major role.

4、 Its gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated as $14.2 trillion in 2009, which is about three times that of the worlds second largest economy, Japan. The U.S. economy maintains a very high level of output per person (GDP per capita, $47,422 in 2009, ranked at around number seventeenth in the world

5、). The U.S. economy has maintained a stable overall GDP growth rate, a low unemployment rate, and high levels of research and capital investment funded by both national and increasingly by foreign investors. A central feature of the U.S. economy is the economic freedom afforded to the private sector

6、 by allowing the private sector to make the majority of economic decisions in determining the direction and scale of what the U.S. economy produces. This is enhanced by relatively low levels of regulation and government involvement, as well as a court system that generally protects property rights a

7、nd enforces contracts.Colonial eraThe United States has its economic roots in European settlements in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The American colonies went from marginally successful colonial economies to a small, independent farming economy, which in 1776 became the United States of Americ

8、a. Expansion and growthDuring this period, millions moved to the more fertile farmland of the Midwest. Railroads made a decisive impact on the U.S. economy, making possible the transition to an urban industrial nation with high finance and advanced managerial skills. During the 19th century, a combi

9、nation of vision and foreign investment, combined with the discovery of gold and a major commitment of Americas public and private wealth, enabled the nation to develop a large-scale railroad system, establishing the base for the countrys industrialization. Civil War and Reconstruction: 1860sThe ind

10、ustrial advantages of the North over the South helped secure a Northern victory in the American Civil War (18611865). Northern industry, which had expanded rapidly before and during the war, surged ahead. Industrialists came to dominate many aspects of the nations life. The Gilded Age: 18651900The r

11、apid economic development following the Civil War laid the groundwork for the modern U.S. industrial economy. By 1890, the USA had overtaken the level of gross manufacturing output of the United Kingdom. An explosion of new discoveries and inventions took place, causing such profound changes that so

12、me termed the results a Second Industrial Revolution. The telephone, phonograph, typewriter and electric light were invented. Coal, Oil , iron , copper and silver were found and applied in industrial development. As industry grew larger, it developed mass-production methods. Frederick W. Taylor pion

13、eered the field of scientific management in the late 19th century, carefully devising new, more efficient ways for workers to do their jobs. The Gilded Age of the second half of the 19th century was the epoch of tycoons. Many Americans came to idealize these businessmen who amassed vast financial em

14、pires. Union growth was slow until 1900, then grew to a peak during World War I. Progressive Era: 18901920By the turn of the century, a middle class favored government regulation of business practices to ensure competition and free enterprise .The series helped pave the way for the breakup of the mo

15、nopoly.Roaring twenties: 19201929The rapid growth of the automobile industry stimulated industries such as oil, glass, and road-building. Small cities prospered, and large cities had their best decade ever. The new electric power industry transformed both business and everyday life. However, in Octo

16、ber 1929, the stock market crashed and banks began to fail in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Great Depression: 19291941Following the stock market crash, the economy plunged into the Great Depression. By 1932, the unemployment rate was 23.6%. Conditions were worse in heavy industry, lumbering, export

17、 agriculture (cotton, wheat, tobacco), and mining. Conditions were not quite as bad in white collar sectors and in light manufacturing. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President in 1932 and he patched together many programs, known as the New Deal. The New Deal focused on what historians call t

18、he 3 Rs: relief, recovery and reform. That is, relief for the unemployed and poor, recovery of the economy to normal levels, and reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression.The economy eventually recovered from the low point of the winter of 1932-33, , with sustained improvement un

19、til 1937.Wartime controls: 19411945The War Production Board coordinated the nations productive capabilities so that military priorities would be met. Converted consumer-products plants filled many military orders. Automakers built tanks and aircraft, for example, making the United States the arsenal

20、 of democracy. In an effort to prevent rising national income and scarce consumer products to cause inflation, the newly created Office of Price Administration controlled rents on some dwellings, rationed consumer items ranging from sugar to gasoline, and otherwise tried to restrain price increases.

21、Postwar prosperity: 19451973The period from the end of World War II to the early 1970s was a golden era of American capitalism.Inflation woes: 1970sIn the late 1960s it was apparent to some that this juggernaut of economic growth was slowing down, and it began to become visibly apparent in the early

22、 1970s. The United States grew increasingly dependent on oil importation from OPEC after peaking production in 1970, resulting in oil supply shocks in 1973 and 1979. Stagflation gripped the nation, and the government experimented with wage and price controls under President Nixon. Deregulation and R

23、eaganomics: 19741992The deregulation movement began when Nixon left office. Most important were the removals of New Deal regulations from energy, communications, transportation and banking In 1981, Ronald Reagan introduced Reaganomics. That is, fiscally-expansive economic policies, cutting marginal

24、federal income tax rates by 25%. Inflation dropped dramatically from 13.5% annually in 1980 to just 3% annually in 1983 Real GDP began to grow after contracting in 1980 and 1982. The New Economy: 1990s to 2007During the 1990s, the national debt increased by 75%, GDP rose by 69%, and the stock market

25、 grew more than three-fold.From 1994 to 2000 real output increased, inflation was manageable and unemployment dropped to below 5%, resulting in a soaring stock market known as the Dot-com boom. The second half of the 1990s was characterized by High-tech and dot-com companies. By 2000, however, it wa

26、s evident a bubble in stock valuations had occurred, the market would give back some 50% to 75% of the growth of the 1990s. The economy worsened in 2001 with output increasing only 0.3% and unemployment and business failures rising substantially, and triggering a recession that is often blamed on th

27、e September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks.Through 2001 to 2007, the red-hot housing market across the United States fueled a false sense of security regarding the strength of the U.S. economy.Ongoing financial crisisIn 2008 a perfect storm of economic disasters hit the country and indeed the entire wor

28、ld. The most serious began with the collapse of housing bubbles in California and Florida, and the collapse of housing prices and the construction industries. Millions of mortgages (averaging about $200,000 each) had been bundled into securities called collateralized debt obligations that were resol

29、d worldwide. Many banks and hedge funds had borrowed hundreds of billions of dollars to buy these securities, which were now toxic because their value was unknown and no one wanted to buy them. A series of the largest banks in the U.S. and Europe collapsed, some went bankrupt, such as Lehman Brother

30、s. Congress voted $700 billion in bailout money and an activist Treasury and Federal Reserve, committed trillions of dollars to shoring up the financial system, but the measures did not reverse the declines. Banks drastically tightened their lending policies, despite infusions of federal money. It b

31、ecame much harder to get car loans, for example. The government for the first time took major ownership positions in the largest banks. The stock market plunged 40%, wiping out tens of trillions of dollars in wealth; housing prices fell 20% nationwide wiping out trillions more. By late 2008 distress

32、 was spreading beyond the financial and housing sectors, especially as the Big Three of the automobile industry (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) were on the verge of bankruptcy. President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 in February 2009; the bill provides $7

33、87 billion in stimulus through a combination of spending and tax cuts. The plan is largely based on the Keynesian theory that government spending should offset the fall in private spending during an economic downturn; otherwise the fall in private spending may perpetuate itself and productive resour

34、ces, such as the labor hours of the unemployed, will be wasted. Critics claim that government spending cannot offset a fall in private spending because government must borrow money from the private sector in order to add money to it. Opponents of the stimulus also point to problems of possible futur

35、e inflation and government debt caused by such a large expenditure. Subprime mortgage crisisThe subprime mortgage crisis is an ongoing real estate crisis and financial crisis triggered by a dramatic rise in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures in the United States, with major adverse consequences

36、 for banks and financial markets around the globe. The crisis, which has its roots in the closing years of the 20th century, became apparent in 2007 and has exposed pervasive weaknesses in financial industry regulation and the global financial system. Approximately 80% of U.S. mortgages issued in re

37、cent years to subprime borrowers were adjustable-rate mortgages. After U.S. house prices peaked in mid-2006 and began their steep decline thereafter, refinancing became more difficult. As adjustable-rate mortgages began to reset at higher rates, mortgage delinquencies soared. Securities backed with

38、subprime mortgages, widely held by financial firms, lost most of their value. The result has been a large decline in the capital of many banks and U.S. government sponsored enterprises, tightening credit around the world.Qs:1. The importance of the New Deal practices by Franklin Delano Roosevelt dur

39、ing the Great depression.2. What are the causes of the ongoing financial crisis in the United States.Chapter 6 Law of the United StatesSources of lawIn the United States, the law is derived from four sources. These four sources are constitutional law, statutory law, administrative regulations, and t

40、he common law (which includes case law). The most important source of law is the United States Constitution. No law may contradict the Constitution.Levels of lawFederal lawThe law of the United States consists of many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the

41、 United States Constitution, the foundation of the federal government of the United States. The Constitution sets out the boundaries of federal law, which consists of constitutional acts of Congress, constitutional treaties ratified by Congress, constitutional regulations promulgated by the executiv

42、e branch, and case law originating from the federal judiciary.State lawThe Constitution and federal law are the supreme law of the land, thus circumscribing state and territorial laws in the fifty U.S. states and in the territories. The federal sovereign possesses only the limited supreme authority

43、enumerated in the Constitution. Indeed, states may grant their citizens broader rights than the federal Constitution as long as they do not infringe on any federal constitutional rights. Thus, most U.S. law (especially the actual living law of contract, tort, criminal, and family law experienced by

44、the majority of citizens on a day-to-day basis) consists primarily of state law, which can and does vary greatly from one state to the next. Local lawStates have delegated lawmaking powers to thousands of agencies, townships, counties, cities, and special districts. And all the state constitutions,

45、statutes and regulations (as well as all the ordinances and regulations promulgated by local entities) are subject to judicial interpretation like their federal counterparts. Types of lawTraditionally, lawyers distinguish between procedural law (which controls the procedure followed by courts and pa

46、rties to legal cases) and substantive law (which is what most people think of as law).Procedural lawProcedural law is divided into criminal procedure and civil procedure.Substantive lawSubstantive law comprises the actual substance of the law; that is, the law that defines legally enforceable rights

47、 and duties, and what wrongful acts amount to violations of those rights and duties. Because substantive law by definition is enormous, the following summary briefly covers only a few highlights of each of the major components of American substantive law.1. Criminal lawCriminal law involves the pros

48、ecution of wrongful acts by the state which are considered to be so serious that they are a breach of the sovereigns peace (and cannot be deterred or remedied by mere lawsuits between private parties).2. Contract lawContract law covers obligations established by agreement (express or implied) betwee

49、n private parties.3. Tort lawTort law generally covers any civil action between private parties arising from wrongful acts which amount to a breach of general obligations imposed by law and not by contract.ConstitutionThe Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United

50、States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America and the federal government of the United States. It provides the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government t

51、o the states, to citizens, and to all people within the United States.The Constitution defines the three main branches of government: a legislature, the bicameral Congress; an executive branch led by the President; and a judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court. The Constitution specifies the pow

52、ers and duties of each branch. The Constitution reserves all unenumerated powers for the respective states and the people, thereby establishing the federal system of government.The United States Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsyl

53、vania, and ratified by conventions in each U.S. state in the name of The People. The Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times; the first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights. The United States Constitution is the shortest and oldest written constitution still in use today. The Cons

54、titution has a central place in United States law and political culture. The handwritten original document penned by Jacob Shallus is on display at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.The Constitution consists of a preamble, seven original articles, twenty-seven amend

55、ments, and a paragraph certifying its enactment by the constitutional convention.Preamble: Statement of purposeThe Preamble states:“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the g

56、eneral Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”The Preamble does not grant any particular authority to the federal government and it does not prohibit any particular authority. It establi

57、shes the fact that the federal government has no authority outside of what follows the preamble, as amended.Seven original articlesArticle One: Legislative powerArticle Two: Executive powerArticle Three: Judicial powerArticle Four: States powers and limitsArticle Five: AmendmentsArticle Six: Federal

58、 powerArticle Seven: RatificationThe Bill of Rights (Amendments 1 to 10)The Constitution has twenty-seven amendments. The first ten, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified simultaneously by 1791. The following seventeen were ratified separately over the next two centuries. First Ame

59、ndmentfreedom of speech, of the press, Freedom of Religion, and of assembly; right to petition, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Sec