U.S. economy remains the largest and the most vital economy worldwide due to the rapidly transforming landscape. The U.S economy represents around 20% of the world's total output and also the largest GDP. The huge development and technological advancement in the U.S. have led to economic development. The U.S. economy encompasses various services in sectors of finance, technology, healthcare, and retails, among others. The huge corporations play a huge role in the U.S. global stage. The manufacturing sector has led to economic development in the United States. This paper explores the historical factors that have led to success in the U.S. economy.
The U.S. 1787 constitution gave the national government the mandate to control U.S. commerce with foreign countries. The constitution initiated a law that controlled bankruptcy, create money, and monitor its value. The constitution also developed rules to regulate the standards of measures and weights, establishing post offices and roads, and fixing the rules that controlled copyrights and patents. The federal government started nurturing the infant industries by giving subsidies and also imposing rules that controlled imports. Also, a national bank was established, which assumed all the colonies' debts in the time of the revolutionary war period. President Jefferson promoted agrarian democracy by protecting the common man from the economic and political autocracy. In the 20 th century, the country’s economic measures like the GDP, working hours, household income were the main metrics to national well-being (Yarrow, 2020) . Also, the invention of new technologies improved the country’s productivity.
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The establishment of cotton has led to economic development in The United States. Cotton farming started as small-scale farming, which late rose due to the invention of the cotton gin. The cotton gin helped the farmers to separate the cotton seeds from the waste. People from the South started moving to the west and later and started large plantations (USembassy, n.d.) . Also , the people at the east established new settlements in areas that had fertile soil. The government developed the transport sector through developing the sectors, such as the waterways and roads; they helped the farmers to take their farm produce to the market. The growth of cotton led to an improvement in the American economy and the living standard of people. Innovations and capital speculations facilitated to development of more firms and economic advancement. Improvement in the transportation sector led to new markets, which expanded the country's commercialization. The invention of steamboats improved the transportation sector as products would reach the market faster and cheaply. Railway transport led to a greater impact on the economy as more products would reach the market and open up large new development territory stretches. The government's support to the transport sector improved the economic sector that facilitated economic deals with the local and European private investments. The integration between the U.S. vision and foreign investments, gold discovery, and the country's private and public commitments led to its advancement on the railroad, which improved its industrialization.
The industrial development between the 18 th and 19 th centuries led to economic success in the United States. The industrial revolution that began in Europe spread quickly to America. A large portion of the U.S. population lived in the urban centers and depended on manufacturing as a source of income. Cotton production was the leading producer, with the manufacturing of shoes, clothing, and machinery expansion. The northern industries expanded as a result of war demands that surged ahead. The rapid inventions formed the basis of the U.S. economic development. New inventions and discoveries led to the second revolution in the U.S. Some of the discoveries include oil discovered in Pennsylvania, the innovation of typewriters, cars, phonographs, telephones, and electric lights. All these attainments led to the advancement of the country's industrial infrastructure. The advancement of the industries led to the emergence of techniques of mass production. The technological revolution led to a new entrepreneurial culture that echoed the age of industrialists. Bill Gates led to an immense fortune by creating and selling computer programs. The use of computer programs improved business practices and efficiency, which improved the country's economic status. Government involvement regulated the practices ensured that there were free competition and enterprise, and helped reduce corruption in the public sectors.
In recent years, the U.S. has been falling behind in comparison with its economic competitors. The average wage for the workers has been reducing as compared to other countries. The huge and growing population of (NewYorkTimes, 2013) w orkers have been earning low incomes. A large number of workers have been earning about two-thirds of the median salaries. The government offers little support to the workers, and a certain weak collective bargaining system has set back the unemployed people. These factors have led to the country having high economic inequality levels and many low-income earners compared to other advanced countries.
The unemployment has made the country to fall behind economically. People have been losing jobs from being fired and dismissals (TFC, 2018) . Many companies in the country do not even issue a notice to the workers for firing them. Also, the fired workers hardly get other jobs in other companies. This effectively reduced the economic status of people and hence facilitating income disparities. Weak government programs and economic constraints facilitate these gaps. The government offers little support to curb unemployment, which lags behind the economic status of the country. Also, there was a shortage of workers in the innovation industries, as many students in the U.S. are not venturing into the innovation fields in goods numbers. The country has very few skilled people who are venturing into the labor markets. This makes the country to fall behind on the methods that can be used to improve the economy.
In my opinion, the U.S. has been faced with economic inequalities and inefficiency. In several decades the economic inequality has been increasing. This has been led by the elites who don't care about economic equality and efficiency as they make and influence policies. The redistribution of the economic policies benefits the rich people, and the poor lose cost and waste their resources. Many of the elite people are not fair-minded as compared to the average Americans. The elites are also not willing to sacrifice efficiency for equality than for the other average Americans. They are only concerned about the size of the economic pie than minding about every American citizen's equality. The country has a higher trade-off between high efficiency and inequality. The country is less efficient economically due to the slow economic development rate and increasing unemployment (Navarro & Schmitt, 2005) . The liberal model's adoption deregulates the labor markets and reduces social expenditures, reducing equality in the country.
To curb inequality and inefficiency, the Federal government can increase the minimum wages for the workers and increase the rate of employment. This factor will reduce poverty and close the inequality between the rich and the poor, thus facilitating economic growth. The government should develop policies that encourage savings and building assets for the middle and working people (Powell, 2020) . Providing access to fair, low-cost services and owning houses will help people improve their economic status. Improving the education status by developing programs like Head Start would improve economic mobility, minimize inequality, and improve productivity. Economic inequalities and inefficiencies reduce economic development and challenge the main democratic principles of fairness. The government should focus on improving economic equalities to increase the country's output.
In conclusion, American history has led to its economic success. The industrial revolution, government interventions, and early innovations were some of the factors that have led to the country's growth economically. However, the country has been falling due to various factors such as joblessness as many organizations are firing people. Also, the government has reduced its support to the people on improving their livelihoods. Many young people are not willing to work and venturing into innovative fields. The country is faced with inequality and inefficiency due to increased income differences between the rich and the poor, slow economic developments, and unemployment. These problems can be solved in ways like providing employment and providing access to fair services. The government should support education and resources to people to enable them to improve their economic status.
References
Navarro, V., & Schmitt, J. (2005). Economic efficiency versus social equality? The U.S. liberal model versus the European social model. Int J Health Serv, 35 (4), 613-630. https://doi.org/10.2190/6ljj-hl7h-gf0x-66rc
NewYorkTimes. (2013). The United States, Falling Behind . The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/23/opinion/the-united-states-falling-behind.html
Powell, J. A. (2020). Six policies to reduce economic inequality . Othering and Belonging Institute. https://belonging.berkeley.edu/six-policies-reduce-economic-inequality
TFC. (2018). 11 Ways American Workers Are Falling Behind the Rest of the World . The Century Foundation. https://tcf.org/content/commentary/11-ways-american-workers-are-falling-behind-the-rest-of-the-world/?session=1
USembassy. (n.d.). The U.S. Economy: A Brief History. https://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/oecon/chap3.htm
Yarrow, A. L. (2020). American identity through the lens of economic success. 256. https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2020/book-review/american-identity-economic-success.htm
