Discussion 5 - Expansion of Middle Class and Consumerism

Discuss the Relationship of the Middle Class and the Consumer Culture in the 1950s/60s

During the 1950s and 1960s, an increase in disposable income cemented the relationship between Middle Class and consumer culture since it resulted in Americans having an increased purchasing power. In the 1950s, the GDP increased two-fold, reaching over $500 billion, expanding American consumerism, prompting companies to earn more profits, resulting from affordable technological advances (Malkmes, 2011). A higher GDP increased the spending power of the Middle-class, changing their lifestyle since consumer goods' variety and availability grew with the economy. Put simply, they had more things to purchase all sorts of goods and services to strengthen their material comfort; for instance, more Americans purchased houses and moved into suburbs, underpinning the impact of increased income on the consumer culture. According to Denisoff (2016), developers started buying land on the outskirts of major cities such as Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York through utilizing mass production techniques to build classy and affordable houses. The American government implemented the G.I Bill, subsidizing low-cost mortgages for war veterans, meaning it was relatively cheaper for Middle-class people to buy houses in the outskirts areas than reside within cities (Malkmes, 2011). Therefore, the growth of the Middle-class populous increased homeownership within the outskirt areas, leading to whites leaving cities with blacks moving to seek economic opportunities.

Discuss the International Monetary System and what it Entailed

International monetary system (IMS) denotes globally accepted agreements, guidelines, and controlling entities that facilitate global trade, international investment, and the reallocation of capital between sovereign states. According to Temin and Vines (2013), this system facilitates the worldwide foreign exchange markets through which national states finance capital movement and international trade. For this reason, the IMS lets buyers and sellers of different nationalities access acceptable international means of payments. Having a common international financial architecture linked all the major global economies, including India, China, the Americas, and Europe, providing a formal monetary system to facilitate interactions. To operate fully, Eichengreen (2019) postulated that it must correct the global imbalance, provide liquidity for the changing levels of trade, promote balance of payments (BoP) adjustments, and inspire confidence. Liquidity, adjustment as well as stability and...