Part 1: WWI and the Emergence of the Command Economy
1. How did the US finance World War I? How did the overall economy change to allow the country to focus its efforts and its finances on the war?
2. The war served to create the first ‘command economy' in US history. What does the textbook mean by this term and how did the institution of this kind of economy impact the country moving forward?
Part 2: "Normalcy" in the Post-War Period
1. How and why did the US economy grow in the 1920s? Provide examples that reflect this growth.
2. Many economic historians argue the Stock Market Crash pf 1929 and the Great Depression which followed it were predictable to some degree based on elements of the 1920s economy. What evidence might back up such claims?