Bren --
Great question! It's easier to identify what's different than what's
the same. But let's start with a snapshot of 1962:
· The Kennedy-Nixon debate is the first televised presidential debate
in 1960.
· Cold War is in its height meaning little trade with the Soviet Union
or Eastern Bloc countries. The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961.
· U.S. has put an embargo on trading with Cuba and in 1963 the Cuban
Missile Crisis results in a blockade of Russian ships carrying
missiles.
· Alan Freed has been convicted in the beginning of a "payola" scandal
involving payment for air time on AM radio stations.
· 95% of soft drinks are furnished in returnable containers (but the
first aluminum cans appear in 1960).
· 2,000 mainframe computers are delivered in the U.S. (1960).
· first contraceptive pills introduced in 1961.
· the first Americans and Russians circle the earth.
· Domino's, K-Mart, Walmart are just opening their first stores.
· ABC begins broadcasting in color.
· President Kennedy nationalizes the Alabama National Guard to force
integration of the University of Alabama.
· Polaroid introduces its first instant color film prints.
· The Beatles have yet to emerge as a force in music recording.
· Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" is published, leading to
reconsideration of DDT as a pesticide (and its eventual banning in the
U.S. in 1973).
· The first communications satellite, Telstar 1, is launched by AT&T
in 1962, providing direct television transmission between the U.S.,
Europe, and Japan. It also had several hundred voice channels.
Almost every one of these "firsts" has had an impact on the business
world:
· Presidential communications now reach a worldwide population in
color -- daily.
· Trade is active between East and Western block countries; the Soviet
Union is now a dozen countries; former satellites in eastern Europe
now have free market economies.
· AM radio stations have been supplanted by thousands of FM stations.
"Payola" is squashed but major promotional efforts replace it.
· Virtually all soft drinks and beer are delivered to households in
recyclable containers -- and the major of those are recycled, rather
than disposed of.
· Dell Computer delivers more computers in a day than were delivered
in all of 1960.
· Contraception results in families being formed later; more women
active in the labor force.
· Chains dominate retail, fast food and entertainment businesses by
2002.
· Broadcast business has expanded to an extent that three major
networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) no longer dominate broadcast businesses. All
three are part of larger corporations. Color television dominates and
black-and-white -- dominant until the late 1960s -- is virtually
non-existent.
· Anti-discrimination measures have taken hold in federal law,
subsuming state laws that previously institutionalized discrimination
in restrictive covenant (real estate), access to education and labor
law.
· Popular music becomes dominant in the record industry, then segments
into a variety of popular segments by the 1990s.
· From virtually no environmental controls in 1962, the U.S. starts an
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to control levels of chemical,
air and water pollution -- changing dozens of industry practices.
· Inter-continental communications come to be dominated by satellites.
Thousands of them are in orbit to provide virtually any telecom
service, including worldwide cellphone coverage.
And, of course there are dozens more changes that you've observed
yourself: e-mail and the Worldwide Web becoming nearly universal in 10
years; the spread of gaming industries to virtually every state from
simply being in Nevada; advent of cellphones and answering machines.
The more difficult question is what HASN'T changed in business:
· The concept of publicly-traded companies has existed for more than
100 years. As in 1962, publicly-traded firms still dominate the U.S.
economy.
· The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) remains the leading
agency in monitoring the U.S. stock/bond/option industry.
· Basic accounting rules are the same, even if there are constant
modifications.
· There's still a commercial embargo for trade with Cuba.
· Foreign-exchange rules are more liberal than in the past, but are
fundamentally the same.
· "Payola" was illegal then and is still illegal.
· Government funding is still largely done through income and excise
taxes (Federal); sales and real estate taxes (state and local).
· IBM still is the leading supplier of computer equipment worldwide.
· Social security remains the leading income for retired people.
· The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) has continued to cover
all insurance guarantees for federal banks and savings-and-loan
institutions.
The Google search strategy used here was to look at what happened by
typing in:
1960's
Discovery Channel has an excellent page called "WebQuest: the 1960's
Museum" (May, 2002) that gives a number of sources for research on the
decade:
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/museum/webquest.html
"The History of the 60s and 70s" (undated):
http://www.vinylfm.com/history/
In looking at snapshots of events of the decade, using the New York
Times Index at a local library gives a good idea of business issues of
the times.
Best regards,
Omnivorous-GA |
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