United States of America

Abstract

The United States forms an extensive economically integrated area which can hardly be equalled by any other country as regards degree of development. The country is rich in ores and minerals and has a temperate climate and largely favourable soil conditions. The most important raw materials are produced in quantities adequate to ensure the United States a considerable degree of self-sufficiency, while on the other hand the national production is absorbed practically in its entirety by the country’s population, so that there is also a large measure of independence with regard to foreign markets as well. Under these circumstances spontaneous fluctuations in the level of economic activity in the United States must consequently almost always be ascribed to domestic impulses, although these impulses can, however, be provided by happenings of an external, political nature which are not in themselves of an economic character.