自学考试英美国家概况302-317第十八章

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Chapter

18

The, Economy

The United* States is by far the biggest industrial country in the

world. It is both an economic and technological giant. It is first in

such advanced fields as computers, space, nuclear energy, and elec-

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tronics. It produces a major portion of the world's machinery, auto-

mobiles, oil, electrical energy, and chemicals, although its share is

decreasing rapidly. The value of American exports increased from

$$ 97 billion in the 70s to $$ 393.5 billion in 1990, and the value of

imports rose from $$ 100 billion to $$ 495. 3 billion during the same

period. America's Gross National Product (GNP) rose from 2,626

billion in 1981 to $$ 5, 465 billion in 1990 and the per capita

income

rose from $$ 10,949 to $$ 19,220 in the same period. Now America

has more than half of the European market in transistors, - oil

refin-

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ing, farm products, telecommunications, and computers. The

American people enjoy a better standard of living than most of the

nations in theWOTId.

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The United States has less than 6% of the world's population.

Yet it produces about 25 % of the total world output. It has experi-

enced remark4ble economic growth. The achievement has not

come

about simply by chance. This fast growth has been attributable to

many factors. First, the geographical the United States

strong. Second, the United States has been blessed by being a land

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rich in mineral resources and fertile farm soil, together with a mod-

erate climate. Third, America has been fortunate in having enough

people to provide the labour necessary for a constantly expanding e

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conomy . A fourth factor is the quality of available labour - The Unit-

ed States has a skilful and willing labour force. The American labour

force is not only hard-working, but also willing to experiment, to

change and to learn new technologies.

L The Economic System of the United States

The United States has a free-market economy with a dominant

private sector. The privately owned and operated businesses, includ

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ing farms, produce about 85 % of the total output of goods and ser

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vices. People in independent professional practice, such as doctors,

lawyers and accountants, produce about 3 % of the total. Govem-

ment enterprises account for the rest. Industries such as coal, steel,

motor vehicle and shipbuilding, are all privately owned. The postal

service (but not the telephone) . the road system and, of course, na-

tional defense are government-run at the federal, state or/and local

levels. Only 25% of electricity and railways are state-owned. In the

United States private ownership accounts for a larger share of the

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conomy than in any other developed country.

However, the government has always been an

important

element

in the American economy. Traditionally, leaders of the US govern-

ment have been reluctant to become involved in the private

sector,

except for transportation. This attitude began to change during the

latter part

of the 19th century, when farm and labour movements

began to ask the government to intercede on their behalf. After a

period of prosperity (1920-1929) , government involvement in the

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economy increased during the Great Depression (1929-1937). Gov-

ernment undertook massive public works programs and the complete

overhaul and regulation of banking to help the economy to recover.

In the postwar years government involvement was again emphasized

when the United States adopted the Keynesian theory in running the

economy. However, by the end of the 1970s, economic growth had

decreased. Unemployment and inflation had continued to rise. The

American economy was plagued by stagflation. In the early 1980s,

under the Reagan Administration, the traditional Keynesian ap-

proach was replaced by new monetarist policies. Such policies sought

to fight inflation by increasing supply and reducing demand. On the

one hand, taxes were cut to increase economic dynamism. On the

other hand, interest rates were raised to reduce the supply of mon-

ey. These policies lasted for about ten years in the United States.

As

.a result, inflation and unemployment were brought under control.

However, these economic policies also led to a big increase in public

borrowing and trade deficit. Apart from stagnation the American e-

conomy is now facing another problem of increasing foreign debts

and trade deficit.

The American economy is characterized by a high degree of

monopoly. Many of the nation-'s basic industries are

represented by

only a few major corporations. For example, in the automobile in-

dustry there-are three giants. They are General Motors, Ford and

Chrysler. In the field of electrical supplies, General Electric controls a

major share of the business. In computers, International Business

Machines has the dominant position. In recent years many corpora-

tions have chosen to become conglomerates. Conglomerates are

services are usually very different.

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Natural Resources

Fertile soil is one of the most important natural resources in the

United States. The rich soils of the interior plains produce crops of

wheat and corn. In areas that have poor soils, irrigation, fertiliza-

tion, and other scientific fanning methods are used to increase

productivity.

America's forest

urces. are among the world's largest. When

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the first Europeans arrived in America they found that the country

was enclosed by huge forests. Softwood forests including valuable

white pines are found in the east and tall and giant redwood trees

and Douglas firs are found throughout the coast ranges of the Pacif -

ic. However, when they began to settle down, many of these forests

were cut down to make room for farms and cities and to provide

shelter and fuel. As America grew, the need for timber increased

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and trees were cut down in vast quantities. Wood, resin and other

forest products are the basic raw materials of several of the nation's

largest industries. Despite the heavy use of forest products, forests

still account for 31 % of the total land - This is a big portion as com-

pared with other countnes in the world.

Another natural resource that contributes to the welfare of the

country is water. The early development of an agricultural system

and the later development of an industrial base were made possible

largely by vast water resources. Some areas, such as the Northeast,

have good rainfall except in seasons of droug

ht. In other areas farm-

ing is usually possible without irrigation - Agriculture can depend an

natural rainfall westward to the 100th meridian and also in the Pa-

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cific Northwest. In the vast area from the Great Plains westward to

California, however, crops must be irrigated . The Mississippi and

other rivers provide excellent inland water routes. Water supplies

from underground sources, lakes, and streams are also large.

Today the rivers and streams of America furnish 63 % of the wa-

ter supply for cities, towns and farmlands, 93 % of the water used

by industries and almost all of the water used to generate electricity.

The United States is rich in most of the minerals needed to supply

its basic industries. Mineral resources of the United States are well

developed. Coal, iron ore, copper,,

Oil,

sulfur, lead, and zinc are

found in large quantities. The United States is among the world

leaders in the production of all these minerals. Other minerals,

such

as uranium, gold, silver, potash and building stone, are also found

in large quantities in the UnitectStates. Major mineral resources that

Although much of the high-grade ore has been used, low-grade

are scarce are tin, manganese, and nickel.

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ore reserves can last for centuries. Coal reserves are also sufficient to

last hundreds of years. The production, processing and marketing of

such petroleum products as gasoline make up one of America's

largest industries. The Alaska pipeline, completed in 1977, stretch-

es for 1, 2

kilometres, and pipes 1. 2 million barrels of petroleum a

day from the northern oil fields to a port on the south coast.

Ill. American Agriculture

The variety of climate and topography of the United Statesmakes

it possible for the people to grow many kinds of crops and mechniza-

tion and scientific farming enable the American farmers to be very

productive. The cultivated land in the United States makes up 21 %

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of the total land, and people who are engaged in farming make up

only 2. 7% of the total population. Yet the United States grows

nearly one fourth of the world's grain and supplies a half of all the

exports of grain in the world. It is the world's leading exporter

of agricultural products. It ranks first, second, or third in the

production and export of corn, wheat, rice, soybeans, oranges,

meat, milk, apples, oats, cotton, tobacco, peanuts and edible veg-

etable oil.

Machines are used to do almost all the farm work. With modern

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equipment a farmer can manage 200 or more hectares without help.

In the American South one mechanical cotton picker can do the work

of forty men. Airplanes are used to seed and fertilize the rice fields.

As labour is scarce farmers do not mind lower yields per hectare if it

means that they can farm with machinery. Farming is also scientif-

ic. Different farming methods are used in different regions to make

the best possible use of the soil. Farmers use crop rotation to im-

prove the land. Crop diversity has enabled much better use of the

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and, labour and modem technique. In those areas in the West

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here rainfall is scarce, both irrigated farming and dry farming are

carried on to make the land'more productive.

The United States produces nearly 50 % of the corn in the world.

Com is grown in every state. But the Com Belt, where most corn is

grown, is in the Midwest. The Com Belt stretches from Ohio to

eastern South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas. It covers northern

Missouri~ southwestern Minnesota, and almost all of Iowa, Indi-

ana, and Illinois. Iowa is the leading com-producing state. Al-

though the soil and climate in this area are ideal for com, scientific

farming methods are largely responsible for the very high yield. By

careful selection and crossbreeding, specialists have developed vari-

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eties of corn that are strong, free from disease, and quick to ripen.

The corn farmers also rotate wheat, oats, soybeans, or clover with

corn. Only a very small percentage of the corn grown in the United

States is used as a household vegetable or cereals; most of America's

corn production is used as feed for livestock.

Wheat is America's most important food crop. It is second only to

corn in production every year. The Wheat Belt is located near the

Corn Belt in the Midwest. Two main types of wheat are grown

spring wheat and winter wheat. The Spring Wheat Belt covers

western Minnesota, almost all of North Dakota, northern South

Dakota and northern Montana. Winters in this area are too severe

for winter wheat. The Winter Wheat Belt, found farther south

where the winters are milder, covers almost all of Kansas and parts

of Nebraska, eastern Colorado, northwestern Oklahoma, and the

northwestern part of Texas. Kansas is the leading producer of win-

ter wheat. North Dakota leads in the production of spring wheat.

Although wheat and corn are the staple grains in the United

States, the growing of rice is part of the economy of some southern

states. Rice is grown in Arkansas and some of the coastal area of

Louisiana and Texas. The United States ranks second in the export

of rice in the world after Thailand.

Cotton is a leading commercial crop in the South. The Cotton Belt

follows the Coastal Plain from southern Virginia to Texas and parts

of the southern Piedmont. Areas of heavy cotton production are

found along the Mississippi. Lowland and in eastern Texas.

Although tobacco is grown in many countries, the United States

is the world's biggest producer and user of this profitable crop. It is

grown mainly in the Piedmont, on the Coastal Plain between Vir-

ginia and Florida, and in Kentucky and Tennessee west of the Ap-

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palachians. The Connecticut valley in New England is well-known

for a kind of fine tobacco.

The Great Plains are a great animal farming area. Animal farming

here is called ranching, the farms are called ranches, and the work-

ers, are called ranch-hands. The ranches are big. The smallest is

about 6, 000 hectares, and the biggest is about 50, 000 hectares.

The ranch-hands or workers used to be called cowboys.

Dairy farming can be found in New England, the Midwest, and

the Pacific Northwest. The Dairy Belt in the Midwest covers

almost

all of Michigan and Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota and Iowa.

Wisconsin is the nation's leading dairy state. Milk is the Dairy

Belt's

most important product. Fresh milk that is not used for city

markets

is used for the manufacture of butter, cheese, condensed and pow-

sin in ihe production of milk, which is marketed in huge quantities

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in the cities. ,

The South is one of America's leading producers of citrus fruit.

Oranges, lemons, grapefruit, and other kinds of citrus fruit are

grown in abundance in central Florida. Many kinds of fruit and veg

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etables are grown in the great Central Valley of California, and in

the valleys of Washington and Oregon in the Northwest. Washing-

ton ranks first in the production of apples in the U. S. Fruit farms

are scattered throughout the Dairy Belt in the Midwest, particularly

along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan and the western end of

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Lake Erie. Apples, cherries, pears,, grapes, peaches, plums and a

variety of berries are also grown in the Mid Atlantic states.

American agriculture is highly mechanized and the farmers are

productive. However,

it is not-without problems.

Farming is a

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