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The Ford Motor Company completely revolutionized the factory industry by introducing the assembly line. Over the years Ford industry had designed very precise machine tools to achieve a standardization and interchangeability of all the different automobile parts. This increased production time and cut product cost in half. The affordability of automobiles and the introduction of mass production altered the game of capitalism in America forever (Levy, 325-354). -
Capitalism can not thrive with an unstable banking system. The Federal Reserve Bank or Central Bank of the United States was founded by Congress in 1913. Its job is to supervise and regulate banking institutions to ensure their safety and protect consumers. It's main purpose is to maintain the stability of our entire financial system, without it, our whole economy could easily collapse. Since it has been founded there have been a few changes, but it remains as vital as always (Crawford, 131). -
The Second World War is what truly brought out American big government. It granted legitimacy to U.S. national authority, the First and Second War Power Acts granted the government a mandate to intervene in private economic activity. These acts, along with others, made it easier for the government to control war production at the time, but continued to have a hand in business control well after the War was over. Capitalism now practically centers around our government (Levy, 453-456). -
The first ever "credit" cards in America were issued by the Diners Club. The cards could only be used to pay for food in any restaurant that accepted them. However, these cards did not actually build up credit, the balance had to be paid when the user was billed. These cards may not have been the same as our credit cards nowadays, but the general idea of them gave way to the first real credit card being issued only 8 years later. Now our economy is practically built on credit (Moore, 5). -
Walt Disney in Anaheim, California was built in 1955. It was the largest park investment that had ever been made. Despite the skepticism, it brought in 3.8 billion visitors in its first year. Since then it has spurred growth in travel and tourism nationwide. Being a $5 billion annual business and employing more than 50,000 citizens just at one site, Disneyland, and now Disney World, have contributed immensely to American capitalism throughout the years and continues to do so (Wanhill 123-144). -
Walmart introduced a new type of capitalistic world, an interconnected commercial, religious, and educational institution where goods are distributed without any actual product production of their own. Walmart showed the world that it is possible to make money from selling different products that are manufactured elsewhere. This type of business is used in multiple big companies now and is the main source for many shoppers (Moreton, 777-783) -
This Act enforces every citizen's right to be free from discrimination or segregation, of any kind, in all public facilities, including educational, and in employment opportunities. This act opened the doors for many minorities in America to gain a higher level of education and obtain jobs without the fear of discrimination. One of the main purposes of this act was to establish equal employment opportunities in America, expanding the branches of capitalism to everyone (Civil Rights Act 1964). -
Intel invented the the first single-chip microprocessor in 1971, called the 4004. At the time it was meant to be used for calculators, but since then microchips have caused massive advancements in technology and are now used in phones, home appliances, military weapons, etc. One of the biggest markets for microprocessors are personal computers, which are used for just about every business in America, both big and small (Faggin et al, 10-20). -
The initial public offering for the First Index Investment trust, by the Vanguard firm, originally flopped. However, indexing would eventually change the fund industry forever with it's assets leaping to $2 trillion in recent times. These funds have brought in billions from investors that have previously been concerned about the risks and costs of actively managed funds, since these mutual funds are passively-managed, they are more willing to invest in them (Bogle, 133-146). -
SixDegrees.com was one of the first official social network sites on the internet. The main purpose of this platform were for users to connect with each other online and send messages to one another. Although this site shut down by 2000 after obtaining several million users, it was soon followed by many more. Social media platforms have changed the way we gain information and contact one another. It has also opened up the world to new types of capital, online consumers (Dhingra and Mudgal, 3).