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Mass consumerism
Consumer spending increased significantly and caused American culture to change to what it is today. -
Passing of the 19th Amendment
The 19th amendment was passed which gave women the right to vote. They end up contributing over $7 trillion in economic activity each year. -
The McFadden Act of 1927
This act established the Federal Reserve Board as a permanent central bank. It prohibited interstate banking which wasn't appealed for decades. It authorized hometown branches for national banks if the state agrees. This allowed for national banks to be at the same level as state banks, but they weren't allowed to branch out of the city they were had a headquarter in. It also gave national banks the authority to buy and sell marketable debt obligations. -
Stock Market Crash of 1929
The US stock market crashes and this starts the Great Depression. The Federal Reserve keeps money tight. Lots of businesses end up losing money and consumers lost a lot of their money as many banks invested their deposits without permission or knowledge. -
Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act of 1930
This act raised US tariffs on imports. This caused foreign governments to retaliate and prevented free trade which lengthened the Great Depression. -
Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) Act of 1932
Hoover attempted to stimulate the economy by passing this act which provided loans to banks and various associations. This act also made loans to railroads many of which could not come close to meeting their payments. -
Federal Home Loan Bank Act of 1932
This act established the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB) that charters and supervises federal S&Ls. Gives the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) authority to lend to S&Ls to finance home mortgages. -
Emergency Banking Act of 1933
Roosevelt signs this to legalize a national banking holiday and to permit the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to appoint a conservator with powers of receivership over all national banks threatened with suspension. -
The Securities Act of 1933
This act required investors to receive financial information concerning securities being put on public sale. This reduced competition among investment banks. -
The Banking Act of 1933
This act gave the board of governors control over other tools of monetary policy. It gave right to the board to set reserve requirements and interest rates for deposits at member banks and set discount rates in each Federal Reserve district. -
The Securities Exchange Act of 1934
This act regulated secondary financial markets to ensure a clear and equal environment for investors. It prohibited fraudulent activities and ensures that publicly traded companies have to disclose important financial information to shareholders. -
The National Housing Act of 1934
This act created two federal agencies: the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC). This was created to improve housing standards and conditions, provide a system of mutual mortgage insurance, and reduce foreclosures on family homes. -
Recession of 1937-1938
Roosevelt began to cut the spending and relief programs that had been set up as part of the New Deal to balance the impact of the Depression. This caused the country to go into another recession for the next year. -
World War II
The war caused 17 million new civilian jobs to be created, caused industrial productivity to increase, and caused corporate profits after taxes to double. There were shortages of food, fuel, and other consumer products and also took a toll on military personnel and civilians. The war lasted for approximately five years. -
Pearl Harbor
Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended in the Pearl Harbor. More than 2500 were wounded. The US had to spend a lot of money rebuilding ships that were destroyed. Immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, millions of men were called to duty. When these men joined the armed forces, they left behind millions of jobs. Instantly, the nation faced a labor shortage that was filled by workers who had previously been denied many employment opportunities. -
The Revenue Act
This revolutionized the tax structure by significantly increasing the number of people who paid income taxes. This allowed for wealth to be redistributed significantly as the rich had a large burden. The federal government covered over half of its expense with the new revenue. -
End of WWII
The US experienced economic growth directly following World War II. After the war, prosperity returned, and the US solidified its position as the richest nation in the world. America was able to thrive after the war as they made it easier for people who had been shut out of the economy previously to now have economic opportunity to enter the work force and make more money. -
Marshall Plan
Congress appropriated $13.3 billion for European recovery. This aid provided much needed capital and materials that enabled Europeans to rebuild the continent’s economy. For the United States, the Marshall Plan provided markets for American goods, created reliable trading partners, and supported the development of stable democratic governments in Western Europe. Congress’s approval of the Marshall Plan signaled an extension of the bipartisanship of World War II into the postwar years. -
The Federal Deposit Insurance Act of 1950
This act increased the insurance limit from $5,000 to $10,000 and it ensures that the depositors are protected in case the bank fails or loses their deposit. In addition, they examine national and state-member banks to determine their insurance risk. -
End of Korean War
Government expenditure on the Korean War increased GDP growth, which in turn restrained investment and consumption. Taxes were greatly increased to pay for the war, while the Federal Reserve pursued an anti-inflationary strategy. -
Bank Holding Company Act of 1956
This act redefined a "bank holding company" as "any company that held a stake in 25% or more of the shares of two or more banks." -
Increase Minimum Wage
President Kennedy raised the minimum wage from $1.00 to $1.25. He did this to reduce the level of poverty in the US. -
JFK's Big Tax Cuts
JFK unveiled a plan to recovery the economy by cutting taxes and provide credits for businesses. -
Declaring War on Poverty
Johnson declares war on poverty and outlines an agenda for the nation aimed at reducing unemployment, increasing educational support and job training, and expanding public services for the poor. -
Revenue Act of 1964
Johnson signed this to lower income and corporate tax rates. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Johnson signed this act which outlawed discrimination in public facilities and prohibits employment discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, or sex. -
Urban Mass Transportation Act 1964
This provided $375 million for large-scale urban public or private rail projects over the course of three years. The goal was to develop and coordinate mass transportation systems. -
Economic Opportunity Act of 1964
In order to fix unemployment and poverty levels, the act was passed in order to fund job training, education for adults, and provide loans to small businesses. -
Higher Education Act
Johnson signed this act to create the first federally funded college scholarships. -
Open Housing Act
Johnson signed this act which outlawed discrimination in the sale or rental of nearly all privately-owned homes and apartments. -
Richard Nixon's "New Economic Policy"
This was a work to battle inflation and boost the economy. This approach departs significantly from conventional economic tactics. President Nixon devalues the dollar and takes out the dollar's ability to be changed over into gold to advance interest for US products in global business sectors. Because of this devaluation, the dollar's worth can vary on global business sectors. -
Middle East War
OPEC put an oil embargo on the United States, raised oil prices, and decreased oil production. The US economy was profoundly affected by the sudden rise in oil prices and supply disruptions, which resulted in higher production costs, lower consumer spending power, and inflation. The rising prices and lower economic activity caused a recession. Unemployment expanded, organizations confronted difficulties, and customers had less disposable income to spend. This war lasted only a few weeks. -
Inflation Skyrockets
Inflation skyrockets mainly due to the oil crisis, but also due to rising food prices and the end of the Nixon wage-price controls program. -
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 (HMDA)
The act obliged banks and S&Ls to record their lending activities and pushed them to lend mortgage money in low-income areas. The act was a tool for fighting discrimination and promoting fair lending, both of which can help make the housing market more stable and fair. -
Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA)
The act mandated the FDIC to investigate non-member state banks for CRA compliance and directed banks and S&Ls to satisfy the credit requirements of their communities, including low-income areas. The local economy could benefit from this investment's potential contribution to job creation, infrastructure improvement, and revitalization efforts. -
International Banking Act of 1978
This act governed the opening, running, and management of foreign banks in the US. The capital requirements on foreign banks operating in the US that were established ensured that foreign banks had sufficient capital to support their US operations and absorb potential losses. It also allowed the Federal Reserve to be able to intensely overview and supervise these banks. -
Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980
This act was passed as Congress' response to get S&Ls out of interest rate mismatch and to attempt to deregulate S&Ls. It started with discontinuing the Federal Reserve's regulation that says what banks and S&Ls can pay deposits on. It also allowed financial institutions to offer interest-bearing checking accounts. S&Ls were now allowed to offer checking accounts and it established loan-loss-reserve requirement. This finally also increased the FDIC deposit insurance coverage from $40k to $100k. -
Recession of 1982: Iranian Revolution
Jimmy Carter left the US economy in despairing circumstances when leaving office in 1981. The economic problem of this time was due to outside factors: the Iranian revolution disturbed Iranian oil production and created a shortage worldwide which drove prices through the roof. -
Tax Reform Act of 1981
Among the many provisions of this act are incentives to encourage real estate investment and opportunities for S&Ls to lend on real estate. -
Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982
It accelerated the discontinuation of interest rate controls. It allowed S&Ls to have up to 50% of assets in commercial real estate, have up to 30% of assets in consumer loans, commercial paper, and corporate debt, and to use land and other non-cash assets as capital instead of the previously required cash. It enhanced the FDIC and FSLIC who could now provide more aid to troubled institutions. It also authorized S&Ls and banks to offer money market deposit accounts. -
International Lending Supervision Act of 1983
This act mandates that all regulatory agencies for the banking industry check to see that all banks maintain adequate capital levels. It becomes an unsafe and unsound practice if this is not done. -
Tax Reform Act of 1986
This act repeals a large number of the 1981 tax incentives that were intended to promote investments in real estate. -
Competitive Equality Banking Act of 1987 (CEBA)
This act authorized $10.75 billion to recapitalize FSLIC over three year periods. It also granted the FDIC bridge-bank authority. It also became the first legislation to explicitly state that insured deposits are backed by the full-faith-and-credit of the U.S. government. -
Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989
FIRREA authorizes the use of taxpayer money to solve S&L failures. This abolished the FSLIC which used to provide deposit insurance to S&Ls. It created two insurance funds: SAIF and BIF. It established the RTC as a temporary placeholder to resolve S&L failures. It replaced the FHLBB with the OTS to regulate and supervise S&Ls. It gave the FDIC back-up supervisory authority over S&Ls. And finally, it increased the FDIC's board of directors to five members. -
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act (FDICIA) of 1991
This act fixed problems that were not addressed in FIRREA. It gave the FDIC the right to borrow $30 billion from the Treasury to help replenish the BIF, but is required to close banks in a manner that is the least costly to BIF. Now the FDIC can apply risk-based insurance premiums. FDIC has the authority to close depository institutions when capital levels are below 2%. Bank regulators now have to perform yearly safety-and-soundness examinations of insured institutions. -
RTC Completion Act of 1993
This gave $18 billion worth of final funding for the RTC (Resolution Trust Corporation). This allowed for the closure of the RTC and transferred its workload and employees to the FDIC. -
Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994
Many of the restrictions on opening bank branches across state lines were lifted by this act. It also allowed foreign banks to branch to the same extent as US banks. This raised the asset ceiling to qualify to get $250 million for the extended exam interval and allow more banks to qualify as "healthy." -
Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994
This act required the Federal bank and S&L regulatory agencies to perform a review of their regulations and written policies to improve efficiency, reduce unnecessary costs, and eliminate duplicative requirements. -
Deposit Insurance Funds Act of 1996
This act moved on from the S&L crisis by providing insurance for the capitalization of SAIF and set the DRR for both insurance funds at 1.25%. -
Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 (EGRPRA)
This act amended the FDIA to eliminate or change various application, notice, and record keeping requirements to reduce regulatory burden. It also amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act to reinforce consumer protections associated with credit reporting agency practices. -
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999
Repeals the provisions of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. It created a new financial holding company that is authorized to underwrite and sell insurance and securities, conduct both commercial and merchant banking, invest in and developing real estate activities, and underwrite municipal bonds in national banks only. -
USA Patriot Act
The US Treasury has more authority to look into money laundering and other activities that could be done to finance terrorist acts or disrupt banking operations thanks to this act. Compliance costs increased for financial firms which were passed on to the consumers and reduced the profitability of these financial institutions. The anti-money laundering efforts affected the operations of financial institutions because they had to enact new procedures to report skeptical transactions. -
Terrorist Attacks on 9/11
Osama Bin Laden hijacked four commercial airliners and crashed two into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and one into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The insurance industry and airlines suffered the most from this event. Many people also became scared and stopped trusting the stock market causing global stock markets to drop sharply and significantly. -
International Money Laundering Abatement and Financial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001
This act required extra record saving and reporting by financial organizations for foreigners, financial foundations to lay out anti-money laundering programs, and required further participation between financial establishments and government agencies in battling money laundering. Money laundering allowed for slow economic growth and reduced the efficiency of real economic transactions of the economy. -
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
This act laid out the Public Organization Oversight Board to control public accounting firms that review publicly traded corporations, disallowed bookkeeping firms from giving both evaluating and consulting services, and expected that CEOs and CFOs ensure the yearly and quarterly reports of publicly traded corporations. It served to increase transparency and improve the governance quality of publicly traded US firms. -
Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act of 2003
As a result, banks were obligated to provide certain consumer customers with a disclosure outlining their rights in the event that they received substitute checks. This considered more prominent adaptability in data capacity and recovery, empowering financial institutions to improve and increment services. -
Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act of 2003
This act enhanced the accuracy and transparency of the national credit reporting system and enhanced consumer rights in situations involving alleged identity theft. This provision had the potential to benefit the economy by reducing financial losses and preventing fraudulent activities. -
2008 Financial Crisis
The housing market bubble, risky lending practices, and the securitization of subprime mortgages all contributed to the 2008 financial crisis. This caused a widespread drop in the value of mortgage-backed securities and set off a chain reaction of financial distress throughout the global banking system. -
Major Hurricanes
2012 hurricane Sandy caused $70 billion in damages and released record storm surges in the northeast. The storm surge killed more than 230 people. Four other major storms occurred in 2017: hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Michael and Maria. These storms were all category 5 hurricanes. In total all four of these storms caused $196.56 billion in damages and killed about 3,285 people. -
Boston Marathon Bombing
A bomb that was placed by 2 people who are associated with soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan. One man who was 19 and his older brother who was 26 planted the bomb which killed 3 people and wounded about 260 others. This bomb in a matter of seconds inflicted $333 million in damage, including damaging the local economy in lost wages, retail sales, and infrastructure damage. -
Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting
On December 14, 2012, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut. A person named Adam Lanza killed 20 first graders and six employees. This has changed how people view school. Parents and students alike were afraid to go to school. This caused many parents to take their child out of the school system and instead invest in homeschooling. Therefore, seeing that the school system is broken and not willing to invest time, money, or effort into it. -
Marjory Stoneman Doughlas High School Shooting
A student who was already expelled came on to campus at Parkland, Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Doughlas high school and opened fire killing 17 people and injuring another 17. This has changed how people view school. Parents and students alike were afraid to go to school. This caused many parents to take their child out of the school system and instead invest in homeschooling. Therefore, seeing that the school system is broken and not willing to invest time, money, or effort into it.