Corporate Capitalism

The development of the US in the 20th century was accompanied by quite controversial trends. On the one hand, the US became the leading economy in the world and the superpower, while, on the other hand, the economic development of the country did not bring absolutely positive results since the inequality and social disparity still persist, while the gap between rich and poor grows wider. In such a situation, it is important to focus on major shifts that have defined the development of the US within the last century since it will help better understand not only the historical development of the country but also define its future prospects and possible changes in socioeconomic and political life of the country.
First of all, it should be said that the beginning of the 20th century was the period of the rapid development of industry in the USA. In fact, the industrialization of the country has reached an unparalleled level of the development, while industrial profits grew enormously. In such a context, the national agriculture became in a deprived position because the industry has started to play the determinant role in the economic development of the USA, while the national agriculture was in decline. At the same time, the rapid industrialization, which was accompanied by the urbanization of the country, eventually resulted in a profound crisis known as the Great Depression and this was probably the landmark point in the socioeconomic history of the US in the 20th century. In fact, this crisis marked the end of the epoch of the balanced industrial and agricultural development of the country. The agriculture could not compete with the industrial development and investments in industry were more profitable than investments in agriculture that determined the industrialization of the country and the wide implementation of machines in all branches of economy, including agriculture. As a result, many farmers have lost the possibility to earn from their farms and large land ownerships were formed, while pauperized farmers had to move to cities in search of jobs, which industry could not supply for all people. In such a situation the shift to the industrialized economy, where large corporations dominated, totally changed not only economic life of the country but also demography and the social structure of the American population (Bell, 204). It is not only the share of the urban population that increased but the US faced a problem of the growing number of poor people who cannot afford living either in city or in countryside. In such a way, this shift resulted in the socioeconomic crisis and forced the US government, during the presidency of Roosevelt, to start socially oriented policy when the state had started to play the role of regulator and distributor of the national wealth between upper and lower classes to maintain the balance in the country.
However, the further development of the US resulted in even more profound changes which occurred not only on the national level but mainly on the international level. By the late 20th century the major shift occurred which was determined by socioeconomic changes within the US and on the international level. In fact, the development of large corporations in the US, as well as in other developed countries of the world, stimulated their cooperation with other countries since American companies needed new markets for their products and services. In this respect, the rapid development of technologies accelerated the penetration of American companies in international markets. In such a way, the economy became more and more integrated in the international markets, while the elimination of fiscal barriers, progress of the free trade and all the other changes, which comprise the process of globalization, had changed dramatically the economic development of the US.
In fact, the late 20th century and the early 21st century became the period of rapid international market expansion which strengthened leading multinational corporations based in the US and, simultaneously, partially opened American market to foreign companies (Friedman, 169). As a result, in the present epoch many companies tend to outsourcing that often leads to considerable job cuts in the US, especially in relation to jobs which do not need high qualification. However, large corporations got new opportunities for maximization their profits using their presence in international markets that stimulated again the widening of the gap between rich and poor that made socioeconomic disparity in the US a serious problem, which is particularly burning today, when the national economy is stagnating.
Thus, the industrialization and globalization became the major processes that had defined the economic development of the US within the last one hundred years.

Works cited:
Bell, T. Out of This Furnace. New York: Random House, 2004.
Clarke, R. L. “Investing in the human resource.” Healthcare Financial Management. 54 (2), 2000, 16.
Friedman, T.L. The World is Flat. Chicago: Routledge, 2006.
Zaleska K. J., Gratton, L & M. Bleackley. Fair process as the hidden dimension of good HRM practice. London Business School, Vol 99-01, 1999.