How important were credit and hire purchase as reasons for economic growth in the USA in the 1920´s?

During the 1920´s, the USA suffered from a great quantity of changes. One of the most important were the credit and hire purchase as reasons for economic growth. On one hand, hire purchase is a method of paying for something in which the buyer pays part of the cost immediately and then make small regular payments until the debt is completely paid. On the other hand, credit is a method of paying for goods or services at a later time, usually paying interest as well as the original money. However, there exist other reasons for the 1920´s economic growth in USA.

To begin with, credit and hire purchase were one of the remarkable reasons for economic growth. In 1920´s new industries and new methods were developed in the USA, this brought a consuming boom. Decades ago, being careful with the money was seen as a good quality, however, this belief changed as people thought that consuming more and more was better. In order to help American citizens to buy new goods, systems of credit and hire purchase were introduced. The poor people were really help by these systems. Moreover, motor industry started lowing car´s prices so that more Americans could afford them. Furthermore, the "buy now, pay later" method of credit was introduced to the stock market as "buying on the margin". People could buy stocks for only an 10% down payment, speculators borrow money to buy shares and then sell them again as soon as the price has risen, this allowed them to invest in many companies. Additionally, banks got involved too, they started lending money to speculators.

However, there are other causes for the economic growth in the USA in the 1920´s. Firstly, the attitudes and polices of the Republican presidents. The Republicans believed that the government should not interfere in the the everyday lives of the citizens, they adopted a "Laissez-faire" policy, the job of the president was to leave the business man alone to do his job. They also believed in import tariffs which made it expensive to import foreign goods, these protected business against foreign competition and allowed American company to grow even more rapidly and they kept taxation as low as possible, this brought benefits to ordinary working people. In addition, the USA was able to exploit their vast supplies of raw material to produce, coal, steel and gas. New industries developed mainly the production of electrical goods and it helped the country to become the world leader in many sectors, for instance, the USA took lead in the chemical industry after the First World War. Moreover, USA started using advertising and marketing to make people buy their goods and spent all their money. 

As a conclusion, it can be said that credit and hire purchase were remarkable reasons for an economic growth as people started consuming more and more, even though there exist other important causes for this powerful economic growth.