Final answer:
The economic growth and consumer spending before 1929 were driven by high personal savings, the significant demand for consumer goods, and the era's mass production capabilities. Growth was also fueled by the rise of new technologies and national media that homogenized consumer culture, despite the superficial nature of this prosperity.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the years leading up to 1929, several factors drove economic growth and consumer spending in the United States. Notably, the post-World War I era saw a major influx of men and women into the labor force and a transition from wartime to peacetime production, which economists believed might lead to unemployment. However, the period was characterized by high personal savings and a pent-up demand for consumer goods. Americans had saved a higher percentage of their income than at any time in history, due to prolonged working hours and increased wages.
The physical capacity of the U.S. economy did not diminish; in fact, the nation retained the same factories, workers, and technology level in 1933 as it had in 1929. The problem wasn't a lack of resources or destruction of infrastructure but factors such as irrational investing that contributed to an unstable economy. Despite no major wars, natural disasters, or spikes in key input prices like oil, the economy shrank dramatically after 1929.
The late 1920s saw dramatic economic growth as factories produced a plethora of consumer goods. The rise in the popularity of automobiles and the consequent demand for related industries were crucial for growth. New technologies and media penetrated the national consumer market, leading to a homogenization of American culture and lifestyle. Mass production, business mergers, and the stock market's meteoric rise further boosted confidence in the economy, though this prosperity was superficial and unsustainable, eventually leading to the Great Depression.