4 ms·

Manufacturing grows as a response to market demand. And with an absence of competitive foreign manufacturing, the US could grow its manufacturing to satisfy the

• inglor_cz 6y ago
  Well, you are not contradicting me. The point I tried to make was that the USA had already a very robust industry to build on. Yes, America got lucky for about 25 years and isn't so lucky anymore. But even here the old adage says that luck favors the prepared.
• dredmorbius 6y ago
  Every nation on Earth in 1800 had that same fundamental demand. The US had untilled praries, virgin forests, mountains of iron hills of coal, oceans of oil, a network of rivers and harbours (supplemented with canals and railroads), and no credible foes on the continent. Russia at the time was not quite as advantaged, but strongly comparable in many regards. The existing Great Powers of 1900 had extensive agriculture and coal energy resources (Britain, Germany, France), and at least some colonial holdings for further raw materials. But all were more constrained than the US, as well as knocked back by WWI. WWII promoted an explosion in US industrial and resource extraction capability whilst Europe was again set back Post WWII, the US retained its advantages, an intact (and substantially recently built) industrial infrastructure, and no international competition, as noted above. The Martial Plan and Japanese and Korean reconstruction helped.