<P> The rapid social and technological changes brought about a growing corporatization of America and the decline of smaller businesses, which often suffered from high postwar inflation and mounting operating costs . Newspapers declined in numbers and consolidated, both due to the above - mentioned factors and the event of TV news . The railroad industry, once one of the cornerstones of the American economy and an immense and often scorned influence on national politics, also suffered from the explosion in automobile sales and the construction of the interstate system . By the end of the 1950s, it was well into decline and by the 1970s became completely bankrupt, necessitating a takeover by the federal government . Smaller automobile manufacturers such as Nash, Studebaker, and Packard were unable to compete with the Big Three in the new postwar world and gradually declined into oblivion over the next 15 years . Suburbanization caused the gradual movement of working - class people and jobs out of the inner cities as shopping centers displaced the traditional downtown stores . In time, this would have disastrous effects on urban areas . </P> <P> Prosperity and overall optimism made Americans feel that it was a good time to bring children into the world, and so a huge baby boom resulted during the decade following 1945 (the baby boom climaxed during the mid-1950s, after which birthrates gradually dropped off until going below replacement level in 1965). Although the overall number of children per woman was not unusually high (averaging 2.3), they were assisted by improving technology that greatly brought down infant mortality rates versus the prewar era . Among other things, this resulted in an unprecedented demand for children's products and a huge expansion of the public school system . The large size of the postwar baby boom generation would have significant social repercussions in American society for decades to come . </P> <P> In 1963, Betty Friedan published her book The Feminine Mystique which ridiculed the housewife role of women during the postwar years; it was a best - seller and a major catalyst of the women's liberation movement . </P> <P> Prosperity also brought about the development of a distinct youth culture for the first time, as teenagers were not forced to work and support their family at young ages like in the past . This had its culmination in the development of new music genres such as rock - and - roll as well as fashion styles and subcultures, the most famous of which was the "greaser", a young male who drove motorcycles, sported ducktail haircuts (which were widely banned in schools) and displayed a general disregard for the law and authority . The greaser phenomenon was kicked off by the controversial youth - oriented movies The Wild One (1953) starring Marlon Brando and Rebel Without A Cause (1955) starring James Dean . </P>

What helped the united states change back to a peacetime economy