§ 2.9.2

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 2.9.2 World War II and the Transformation of Arizona's Economy

Two events in the late 1940s led to a movement in Arizona for new securities legislation.

The first was the explosion of Arizona's economy after World War II. Before World War II, Arizona played a small role in the nation's economy. Its primary businesses centered on cattle, cotton, tourism, and mining copper needed for manufacturing by eastern states.³³⁰ World War II and the cold war that followed transformed Arizona's economy.³³¹ With the stimulus of the government's unprecedented defense and research spending, Arizona's population increased by 50% between 1940 and 1950,³³² and companies like Motorola, Hughes Aircraft, General Electric, U.S. Steel, and Goodyear Aircraft moved into the state.³³³ Manufacturing and service industries developed that did not exist before the war.³³⁴ With the economy booming, business, legal, and government leaders committed to building the state emerged.³³⁵ These business-minded leaders formed committees to plan for postwar growth and recommend legislative changes.³³⁶ Committees to study Arizona's government and the state's securities laws were among these.³³⁷

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Notes:

^[330]See Sheridan, supra note 191, at 130; Tom McKnight, Manufacturing in Arizona, in 8 University of California Publications in Geography 289-90...