Corporate Greed In The 1920s

“Was the frivolity of the Jazz Age… masking the stock-market greed? Were the truly positive aspects of the economy… destined to be pushed into the background?” ("The 1920s: Business and the Economy: Overview." American Decades- STA database source) When people think of the 1920s, they often think of “flapper girls” and the famed Harlem neighborhood in New York City. However, this era was far more complicated than modern-day media and movies like to paint it as. They paint this period as a time of partying, extravagant living, and speakeasies. They choose to ignore the economic changes and lavish spending habits of the American public at the time. There were many changes in this time period, including technology advancements, the rise of modern industries, and a new level of corporate greed and cunning. However, America both benefited from these changes and was harmed by them.

After the short post-war recession, Mellon’s policies became effective and his plans for expansion were effective for seven years. New industries boomed under his policies, and America experienced a period of prosperity, the likes of which had never been seen before in the nation’s history. However, these policies had some downsides: notably, the boom-or-bust trading and Wall Street Bulls. Mellon’s tax policies also spared the rich in favor of passing those taxes on to the middle class, which angered many people. There were also predictions of a crash, which famously came in the stock market crash of 1929, which spurred the Great Depression. As “Digital History” states, “The collapse of the new economy at the decade's end would generate economic debates as intense as the cultural conflicts of the early and mid-1920s.” (The Consumer Economy and Mass Entertainment, Digital