Economic Growth of California - Essay Example

Due: Economic Growth of California After World War II, California experienced a major increase in population. The growth had proved itself to be quite beneficial for the state.  Federal defence spending was a significant element of this period’s economic augmentation.  The suburban, automobile-dependent style of community development became the norm and California became a cultural bellwether (Rawls, Orsi and Smith-Baranzini 187).    After the year 1900, California persisted to arise and build up expeditiously and soon moved up to be an industrial and agricultural power. The economic expansion was extensively based on specialty agriculture, oil, tourism, shipping, film, etc. After 1940, approach towards boosted advanced technology such as aerospace and electronics industries was a significant move towards improvement. Consisting of talented soldiers, a military also became readily available for the state, increasing its status and stability (Deverell and Igler 3). The film stars of Hollywood and a numerous amount of high – standard movies added up to make California the hot spot and a center of attention from the globe. California became an American cultural phenomenon; the idea of the “California Dream” as a part of the massive American Dream of finding a better living attracted 35 million new residents from the start to the end of the 20th century (1900 – 2010). Silicon Valley became the world’s one of the biggest and vital midpoint for computer innovation and production. Over the next 25 years, California’s population would grow by about 500,000 per year, and overtook New York as the nation’s largest state in 1963.  Many couples had two or more children, which fueled a “baby boom.”  These growing families generated ever-growing demand for places to live, transportation facilities, and education. Californias Infrastructure Housing was in short supply immediately after the war. In response, suburban communities sprang up and spread prodigiously based on advert of mass produced housing. The Westchester district of Los Angeles was a prime example of a community built by mass - produced housing (Kolko, Neumark and Mejia 25).    A better transportation system was needed to serve this growing economy.  In 1940, the first freeway was opened. Freeway development resumed after a wartime suspension.  In 1947 the Collier-Burns Act raised the gasoline tax, which enabled significant freeway construction growth.  In the 1950s and 1960s, in addition to the tremendous growth of urban freeway systems in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas, main highways such as 99 and 101 were expanded in congested areas.  The Ridge Route—now the I-5 corridor connecting Los Angeles and the Central Valley—was expanded during this time, and bypasses were built around Salinas, Carpentaria, Santa Maria and King City.    During the baby boom era of the 1950s and the 1960s, California’s system of higher education expanded rapidly and achieved worldwide recognition.  To its existing five campuses the University of California established four new ones at Irvine, San Diego, Riverside and Santa Cruz.  New California State Colleges were authorized at Fullerton, Hayward, Stanislaus, San Fernando Valley, Sonoma, San Bernardino, Dominguez Hills, and Bakersfield.   In 1960, the Donahoe Higher Education Act established what would become the California State University system to administer the California State Colleges.  Between the mid-1950s and the end of the 1960s total college enrolment in California increased five-fold and topped 1,000,000 students.Automobile travel became important after 1910 when motor cars and trucks began to become common. Before that nearly all long distance travel was by railroad or stagecoach with horse or mule down wagons hauling the freight. The creation of the Lincoln Highway in 1913 was a major stimulus on the development of both industry and tourism in the state. Several more state highways were legislated in the next decade, and the legislature passed a law creating the Department of Engineering. This new Department, in addition to non-highway duties, was to maintain all state highways, including the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road. On March 22, 1909 the “State Highways Act” was passed, this law authorized the Department of Engineering to issue $18 million in bonds for a “continuous and connected state highways system” that would connect all the country seats easing trade barriers. (Kolko, Neumark and Mejia 6) The infrastructure development, no matter where, is always a major contributor to the economic growth. The construction and development of new routes and highways triggered trade opportunities within California. Also, in the 1960’s and 1970’s, California became a centre of the semiconductor and computer industries. The Santa Clara Valley, South of San Francisco, came to be nicknamed Silicon Valley because numerous companies manufacturing silicon computer chips were located there. In the 1970’s, California like many other states, had problems with pollution, unemployment and inflation. In 1978 a voter initiative enacted constitutional amendments, popularly called Proposition 13, which drastically cut property taxes and limited the growth of Government. Contribution of Big Events The Gold Rush The economy of California grew at a phenomenal rate during the days of the 1849 Gold Rush. Much of this growth was made possible by the laissez-faire economic policies of Governor Richard Barnes Mason. Prices rose dramatically as more people found gold and gold became widely circulated on the market. Seeing that customers would afford it, merchants raised their fees on all sorts of commodities, from real estate to food to transportation. A miner in California may have made about six to ten times as much as his eastern counterpart, but he also had to pay about that many times more for his upkeep (Rawls, Orsi and Smith-Baranzini 20). The following concrete illustration of this trend is useful: a plot of San Francisco real estate that cost $16 in 1847, sold for $45,000 just 18 months later. Imagine investing in real estate during that time period. The city of San Francisco grew from an isolated village to a thriving city in the five or so years of the Gold Rush. Its population rose from 1000 in 1848 to 35000 in 1850. This contributed dramatically to Californias admission to the Union as a state in 1850. 30 new houses and 2 new murders came about every day. Theatres and newspapers were built and prospered and eventually only London would have more newspapers than San Francisco. Wages rose with the general standard of living, and great economic expansion and demand for jobs made employment readily available. The California agricultural boom was another significant economic result of the Gold Rush. Many of the forty-niners and later immigrants contributed to the growing demand for food. Initially, this was satisfied by imports from merchants as far away as Chile or as nearby as Oregon. However, gradually the capacity was developed to grow the food in California itself. Machines were imported into the country to equip an efficient farming industry, and eventually wheat was exported from California to other parts of the U.S. This phenomenal economic growth was made possible by Governor Richard Barnes Masons laissez-faire approach to the economy. Mason recalled of his administration: "I resolved not to interfere, but permit all to work freely, unless broils and crimes should call for interference."(Yahoo voices) The Mining Boom Ten years after the 1849 California Gold Rush, new deposits were gradually found throughout the West. Colorado yielded gold and silver at Pikes Peak in 1859 and Leadville in 1873. Nevada claimed Comstock Lode, the largest of American silver strikes (Lawrence 26). From Coeur D’Alene in Idaho to Tombstone in Arizona, Boom towns flowered across the American West. They produced not only gold and Silver, but zinc, copper, and lead, all essential for the eastern Industrial revolution. Soon, the West was filled with minerals hoping to strike it rich. (US history) This mining process created employment opportunities across California, for people who migrated. Increased employment helped boom the industries flourish production and rise the GDP. This created economic development (Lawrence 198). Conclusion The 150 years since statehood witnessed unimagined changes in the California economy (Deverell, William and Igler 43).  The population explosion of the Gold Rush left behind prosperous farms, merchants, and railroads.  The transcontinental railroad linked California with the rest of the U.S.   The ability to ship goods east, coupled with California’s moderate climate, prompted new industries looking for a favourable environment—motion pictures and aircraft manufacturing in particular—to move to the Golden State.   The dislocations of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression drove another wave of migration.  The demand for ships and planes and other military hardware spurred by World War II led the state to become a manufacturing powerhouse.  Postwar prosperity, the continuing military demands of the Cold War, the popularity of the “California lifestyle”—spread in large measure by Hollywood—and the state’s proximity to the Pacific Rim combined to spark further businesses and household growth.    California’s strong entrepreneurial spirit, world class port, transportation and higher education systems, coupled with an existing high technology base—developed in part from defence-related industries—have all contributed to the state’s enviable position as the world leader of the New Economy. (Department of Finance - California) Works Cited Deverell, William and Igler, David. A Companion to California History. NY: John Wiley & Sons, 2008. Kolko, Jed, Neumark, David and Mejia, Marisol. Business Climate Rankings and the California Economy. NY: Public Policy Instit. of CA. Lawrence, David. California: The Politics of Diversity. London: Cengage Learning, 2012. Rawls, James, Orsi Richard J. and Smith-Baranzini, Marlene. A Golden State: Mining and Economic Development in Gold Rush California. California: University of California Press, 1999. Read More