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C1a Banking and Financial Services

In 1995 the U.S. financial market had a total of 628,500 institutions, which employed 7.0 million people. These institutions included investment, commercial, and savings banks; credit unions; mortgage banks; insurance companies; mutual funds; real estate agencies; and various holdings and trusts.

Banks play a central role in any economy since they act as intermediaries in the flow of money. They collect deposits and distribute them as loans, allowing depositors to save for future consumption and allowing borrowers to invest. In 1998 the United States had 10,481 insured banks and savings institutions with a total of 84,123 banking offices. Because of mergers and closures, the number of banks steadily declined in the 1980s and
1990s while the number of bank offices increased. Combined assets of insured banks and savings institutions totaled $5.44 trillion in 1998.

Banking in the 1990s was a highly competitive business, as banks offered a variety of services to attract customers and sought to stem the flow of investors to brokerage houses and insurance firms. Large banks in the
United States, in terms of assets, include Chase Manhattan Corporation,
Citibank, Morgan Guaranty Trust, and Bankers Trust, all headquartered in
New York City; Bank of America, headquartered in San Francisco; and
NationsBank, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In 1998 the United States had 1,687 savings and loan associations (SLAs), with combined assets of $1.1 trillion. SLAs are similar to banks, in that they accept deposits from customers, but SLAs focus primarily on the housing and building industries by making loans to home buyers. The industry was substantially restructured in the late 1980s and early 1990s after some prominent SLAs became insolvent largely because of falling real estate prices in some parts of the country.

In addition, a host of other professions offer financial services to individuals and corporations. Insurance companies provide insurance as well as a variety of other services, including deposit accounts, pension management, mutual funds, and other investments. Stockbrokers, investment experts, pension managers, and personal financial consultants advise consumers on investing money. In addition, corporate finance managers, accountants, and tax consultants make recommendations on financial planning to businesses and individuals.

C1b Travel and Tourism

One of the largest service industries in the United States is travel and tourism. In 1997, individual U.S. citizens took 1.3 billion trips within the United States to destinations that were at least 100 miles
(equivalent to 160 km) from home. In increasing numbers, domestic and foreign travelers are visiting theme parks, natural wonders, and points of interest in major cities, and the convention business is booming. New
York City is a popular destination, and tourism is a mainstay of the economies of California, Florida, and Hawaii.

In recent decades, visitors from overseas have become an increasingly important part of the U.S. tourism business. In 1970 about 2.3 million overseas visitors came to the United States, spending $889 million. By
1997 the number of overseas visitors—chiefly from western Europe, Japan,
Latin America, and the Caribbean—was 48 million. Millions of visitors from Canada and Mexico also cross the border every year. Estimated annual expenditures in the United States by Canadian travelers totaled $6 billion, and spending by Mexicans was $5 billion.

America’s historic sites and national parks draw many visitors. In 1998,
287 million visits were made to the more than 350 areas administered by the National Park Service. Millions of people each year visit the national monuments, buildings, and museums in the Washington, D.C., area.
More than 14 million visits are made annually to Golden Gate National
Recreation Area in the San Francisco region. More than 19 million people per year travel on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and Virginia, and about 6 million visit the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi,
Alabama, and Tennessee. Located within a day’s drive from most parts of the eastern United States, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most popular national park in the United States, receiving nearly 10 million visitors annually.

C1c Transportation

Transportation-related businesses are an important part of the service industry. Trucks, railroads, and ships transport goods to markets across the country. Commercial airlines, railroads, bus companies, and taxis move tourists and commuters to their destinations. The U.S. Postal
Service and a number of private carriers deliver goods as well as mail to consumers. The U.S. transportation network spreads into all sections of the country, but the web of railroads and highways is much denser in the eastern half of the United States, where it serves the nation’s largest urban, industrial, and population concentrations.

As of 1996 the 10 largest railroad companies in the United States operated 72 percent of tracks. Takeovers and mergers among the major private railroad companies were common during the 1980s and 1990s. Amtrak
(the National Railroad Passenger Corporation), a federally subsidized organization, operates almost all the intercity passenger trains in the
United States. It carried 20.2 million passengers in 1997. Although rail passenger travel has declined in importance during the 20th century, some
U.S. cities still maintain extensive subways or commuter railways, including New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and the San Francisco-
Oakland area of California.

During the early decades of the 20th century, motor vehicle transport developed as a serious competitor of the railroads, both for passengers and freight. Federal aid to states for highway construction began with the passage of the Federal-Aid Road Act of 1916.

The federal aid program was greatly expanded in 1956 when the government began an ambitious expansion of the Interstate Highway System, a 74,165- km (46,084-mi) network of limited-access highways that connects the nation’s principal cities. This carefully designed system enables motorists to drive across the country without encountering an intersection or traffic signal. It carries about 20 percent of U.S. motor- vehicle traffic, though it accounts for just over 1 percent of U.S. roads and streets. The system is designed for safe, efficient driving, with gentle curves, easy grades and long sight distances. Entering and exiting the highway system is permitted only at planned interchanges.

Air transport began to compete with other modes of transport in the
United States after World War I (1914-1918). The first commercial flights in the United States were made in 1918 and carried small amounts of mail.
Passenger service began to gain importance in the late 1920s, but air transport did not become a leading mode of travel until the advent of commercial jet craft after World War II. By the 1990s a growing number of
Americans flew for personal and business travel, in part because of the need to cover long distances and in part because they like to get to their destinations quickly. In 1997 airlines in the United States carried
598.1 million passengers, the vast majority of whom were domestic travelers.

By the end of the 20th century, large and small airports across the nation formed a network providing air transportation to individual travelers. The nation had 5,129 public and 13,263 private airports in
1996. The largest airports in the United States by passenger arrivals and departures are William B. Hartsfield International Airport near Atlanta,
Georgia; Chicago-O’Hare International Airport in Illinois; Dallas-Fort
Worth Airport in Texas; and Los Angeles International Airport in
California.

The United States has a relatively small commercial shipping fleet. In
1998 only 473 vessels of 1,000 gross tons and larger were registered in the United States. Only 56 percent were in use; most of the remainder formed part of a government-owned military reserve fleet. However, many
American ship owners register their vessels in foreign countries such as
Liberia and Panama, where crew wages, taxes, and operating costs are lower.

In terms of the number of ships docking, New Orleans, Louisiana, is the busiest port in the nation; each year it handles more than 6,000 vessels.
Other leading ports include Los Angeles-Long Beach, California; Houston,
Texas; New York, New York; San Francisco-Oakland, California; Miami,
Florida; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Crude petroleum accounts for 22 percent of the waterborne tonnage of the United States. Petroleum products make up 18 percent. Coal accounts for 14 percent, and farm products for 14 percent.

The inland waterway network of the United States has three main components—the Mississippi River system, the Great Lakes, and the coastal waterways. Some 66 percent of the annual water freight traffic is on the
Mississippi River and its tributaries, 17 percent is on the Great Lakes, and most of the remainder is on the coastal waterways. A major thoroughfare of the coastal waterways is the Intracoastal Waterway, a navigable, toll-free shipping route extending for about 1,740 km (about
1,080 mi) along the Atlantic Coast and for about 1,770 km (about 1,100 mi) along the Gulf of Mexico coast. About 45 percent of the total annual traffic on all coastal waterways travels on the Gulf Intracoastal
Waterway, about 30 percent is on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, and about 25 percent is on Pacific Coast waterways.

Most goods in the United States travel by railroad and truck, which compete vigorously for freight transport. In 1996, 38 percent of all
United States freight moved by rail and about 27 percent traveled by truck. However, other modes of transportation more easily handle special freight items. An additional 20 percent of all freight, by volume, moved through pipelines, mainly oil and natural gas pipelines originating in
Texas and Louisiana with destinations in the Midwest and Northeast.
Another 16 percent, mainly bulk commodities like coal, grain, and industrial limestone, moved by barge on inland waters.

C1d Government

Federal, state, and local governments provide a sizeable portion of services delivered in the nation. In 1996, government workers made up 4 percent of all workers and together produced 12 percent of GDP.
Government services include items as such Social Security benefits, national defense, education, public welfare programs, law enforcement, and the maintenance of transportation systems, libraries, hospitals, and public parks.

The government sector in the U.S. economy has increased dramatically in size during the 20th century. Federal revenues grew from less than 5 percent of total GDP in the early 1930s to more than 20 percent by the late 1990s. Much of this growth took place during two time periods. In the 1930s, following the economic downturn of the Great Depression, U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted sweeping social programs designed to provide basic financial security to individuals and families.
Many of these programs, such as unemployment insurance and Social
Security payments to retirees, have remained in place since then. During the 1960s, U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson instituted a series of programs designed to fight poverty, promote education, and provide basic medical coverage for less-affluent Americans. In addition, during the last half of the 20th century, government expenditures increased for medical care and national defense as a result of technological advances.
The cost of transportation construction also rose as the growing population demanded more and better highway systems.

C1e Entertainment

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