S7 E6: Thirty Glorious Years
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Shifting Pendulum of Economic Reform
- Early 1900s saw corporations improve worker conditions (e.g. Hershey's, Wrigley's, Max Factor) while also mass-producing new goods and paying their employees livable wages.
- Post-World War I, economic prosperity lessened the urgency of working-class demands.
- By the 1920s, the Republican party under Harding and Coolidge retreated from progressive policies, reducing taxes, deregulation, suppressing unions, and generally pursuing anti-progressive politics.
- While many Americans enjoyed the economic boom, many still couldn't afford the consumer goods and relied on loans for purchases like cars and stocks.
- This marked a shift away from the prior era's economic reforms.
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