3. GREAT VARIETY OF THE AMERICAN INDUSTRY.

More than 18,5 million Americans are employed in manufacturing, including over two million engaged in manufacture of machinery. Other industries, with more than a million workers each, include production of food and related products, clothing, metal goods, electrical machinery, wood products and furniture, textiles, p0ublishing and paper products. Canned fish and lumber are the chief manufactured products of Alaska, while Hawaii’s are sugar and canned pineapples.

In recent years there has been a great increase in the number of engineers and scientists employed in American industries as companies emphasize research and the development of labour-saving machines. The growing use of machines to perform routine tasks in agriculture, industry and other fields has brought about a shift of workers to new employment. Though some have been displaced because of automation, most have been absorbed by new industries and by the growth of service and leisure industries.

New industries are formed as new discoveries are made. Atomic energy e.g. has created a wide range of new activities. So has invention of plastic materials. Electronics has become a major industry, employing more than a million people.

Many Americans prefer to be their own bosses. Some 10 million Americans own their own business, four times that number own a part of business. Anyone trying to start a business is faced with many regulations, restrictions and laws. The Federal Government sets laws concerning working conditions, transportation, minimum wages and working hours.

The American blue-collar worker is among the highest paid in the world, and his benefits and pensions also make him one of the most expensive. In addition many firms in the US have profit-sharing plans for their employees. Through these agreements, employees receive a certain percentage of the profits the company makes. This kind of profit-sharing started in the US in the early 20th century; Proctor & Gamble began it in 1887, Eastman Kodak Company followed in 19`12. Now some 20 million Americans participate in plans to receive a share of company profits.

If one looks at America’s industrial history, such developments are not surprising. Henry Ford became famous for his use of mass-production techniques. Perhaps more revolutionary was the fact that in 1914 he offered his workers a daily wage of 5 $ when the national average was 2,40 $ and reduced the working day from nine to eight hours.

The result was astonishing: while mass production reduced the price of cars (Ford’s Model T cost 850$ in 1908, but only 350$ in 1926), better wages meant that more people could afford one. This tendency to make new products available an affordable for everybody is one obvious reason why American business has always been supported by average Americans.

Few Americans like “big business”, however. Starting with Theodore Roosevelt’s administration (1901 – 1909) Government have broken up large corporations and monopolies. This process has continued to the present. An example is airline industry. Deregulation has created enormous competition among American airlines. As a result, there are some 400 airlines in the USA today, which are now in competition for passengers. Americans believe that “fat-cat” companies and business tend to get y and pay less attention to their customers. They are convinced that a choice of goods and services makes for better and cheape4r ones.