United States

Financial services are also provided by insurance companies and security brokerages. The federal government sponsors credit agencies in the areas of housing (home mortgages), farming (agricultural loans), and higher education (student loans). New York City has three organized stock exchanges—the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NYSE Amex Equities, and NASDAQ—which account for the bulk of all stock sales in the United States. The country’s leading markets for commodities, futures, and options are the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) specializes in futures contracts for greenhouse gas emissions (carbon credits). Smaller exchanges operate in a number of American cities.

New York Stock ExchangeTrading floor of the New York Stock Exchange, New York City.Carol M. Highsmith Archive/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-highsm-11972)

Foreign trade

United States: Major export destinationsEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

United States: Major import sourcesEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc.International trade is crucial to the national economy, with the combined value of imports and exports equivalent to about three-tenths of the gross national product. Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, and South Korea are principal trading partners. Leading exports include electrical and office machinery, chemical products, motor vehicles, airplanes and aviation parts, and scientific equipment. Major imports include manufactured goods, petroleum and fuel products, and machinery and transportation equipment.

Economist Intelligence Unit The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Transportation

The economic and social complexion of life in the United States mirrors the country’s extraordinary mobility. A pervasive transportation network has helped transform the vast geographic expanse into a surprisingly homogeneous and close-knit social and economic environment. Another aspect of mobility is flexibility, and this freedom to move is often seen as a major factor in the dynamism of the U.S. economy. Mobility has also had destructive effects: it has accelerated the deterioration of older urban areas, multiplied traffic congestion, intensified pollution of the environment, and diminished support for public transportation systems.

Roads and railroads

Central to the U.S. transportation network is the 45,000-mile (72,000-km) Interstate System, officially known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways. The system connects about nine-tenths of all cities of at least 50,000 population. Begun in the 1950s, the highway system carries about one-fifth of the country’s motor traffic. Nearly nine-tenths of all households own at least one automobile or truck. At the end of the 20th century, these added up to more than 100 million privately owned vehicles. While most trips in metropolitan areas are made by automobile, the public transit and rail commuter lines play an important role in the most populous cities, with the majority of home-to-work commuters traveling by public carriers in such cities as New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston. Although railroads once dominated both freight and passenger traffic in the United States, government regulation and increased competition from trucking reduced their role in transportation. Railroads move about one-third of the nation’s intercity freight traffic. The most important items carried are coal, grain, chemicals, and motor vehicles. Many rail companies had given up passenger service by 1970, when Congress created the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (known as Amtrak), a government corporation, to take over passenger service. Amtrak operates a 21,000-mile (34,000-km) system serving more than 500 stations across the country.

Interstate System Interstate System bypasses, Albuquerque, New Mexico.© Zack Frank/Shutterstock.com

Water and air transport

Navigable waterways are extensive and centre upon the Mississippi River system in the country’s interior, the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Seaway system in the north, and the Gulf Coast waterways along the Gulf of Mexico. Barges carry more than two-thirds of domestic waterborne traffic, transporting petroleum products, coal and coke, and grain. The country’s largest ports in tonnage handled are the Port of South Louisiana; the Port of Houston, Texas; the Port of New York/New Jersey; and the Port of New Orleans.