WORK EXCHANGE TECHNOLOGY The development of American economies

WORK EXCHANGE & TECHNOLOGY The development of American economies based on agriculture, commerce and manufacturing

TRANSPORTATION THE AUTOMOBILE • Took over as the primary means of transportation, becoming more powerful than Railroads • The steel, glass, rubber and especially the oil industries boomed. • More Americans went shopping and traveling • Many more people commuted to work, and the suburbs expanded

COMMERCE Electricity • Electricity fueled consumerism • People wanted vacuum cleaners, fridges, and washing machines • More chain stores opened Internet • Internet Fueled consumerism • The ease of the internet makes it easy for those to order products • More online stores open

AGRICULTURE Mechanization Genetic engineering • New technologies such as the internal combustion engine brought farming into the 20 th century. • New findings in genetics now allow scientists to make Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) • With the use of tractors, farmers no longer had the need to feed, and house horses, saving costs • Tractors made a more efficient use of the acreage of a farmer, and allowed a farmer to cultivate a larger field. • GMO’s can make more disease and weed resistant plants • GMO’s can make more efficient use of land, by eliminating the amount of lost crops, and being able to farm multiple crops on one organism

MANUFACTURING Better Production techniques • Ford’s assembly line • Inspired by Frederick W. Taylor’s Timeand-Motion studies • Most industries adopted this technique and production increased Autonomous Manufacturing • Robotic assembly lines • Robots have replaced many humans in simple manufacturing jobs • Computers control many instances of production • Outsourcing • Companies have begun sending simple tasks to third class countries