Conservative politics

All Presidents were Republican except Grover Cleveland

All Presidents were Republican

All Presidents were Republican

Reduced role for government

Zenith of laissez-faire and limited government

Significantly reduced regulatory and antitrust enforcement

Deregulation, privatization and reduced government regulatory and antitrust enforcement

Difficulties for labor

Strikes and widespread labor violence

Anti-union pressure grew; the AFL-CIO and the big coal and railroad unions lost members

Declining labor union membership and power

Large-scale economic and corporate restructuring

First trusts organized in 1880s; merger and consolidation wave; rise of great corporations

Merger wave; organization of first investments trusts; era of Samuel Insull and public utility holding companies

Merger wave; rise of giant pension funds; emergence of junk bonds and leveraged buyouts

Tax Reduction

End of Civil War income tax in 1872; Civil War taxes effectively removed in favor of reliance on tariff

Top personal income tax rate reduced from 73% to 25%; other taxes also reduced or eliminated

Top personal income tax rate reduced from 70% to 28%; other taxes also reduced

Disinflation or deflation

Hard currency and tight monetary policy; prices declined; high real interest rates

Gold Standard; prices steady (but commodity prices sank); high real interest rates

Tight monetary policy; inflation reduced (commodity prices sank); high real interest rates

Two tier economy

Difficult times in agricultural, and mining areas; good times in emerging industry, service and financial centers

Difficult times in agricultural, energy and mining areas; good times in emerging industry, service and financial centers

Difficult times in agricultural energy and mining areas; good times in emerging industry, service and financial centers

Concentration of wealth

Large increase in number of millionaires; 3-5% more of U.S. total income concentrated with top 1 %

Zenith of 20^th century U.S. wealth concentration; top 1% Americans had 40% of U.S. wealth

Large increase in millionaires and billionaires; 3-4% more of U.S. total income concentrated with top 1%

Increased debt and speculation

Major increase in individual, corporation and foreign debt; US railroad bonds sold to British were that era’s junk bonds

Introduction of installment buying and purchase of stocks on margin; international debt questions; massive expansion of personal debt

Ballooning of personal and corporate debt; innovative debt instruments; surge of US budget deficit; emergence of US as world’s leading debtor

Speculative implosion

Panic of 1893 and subsequent depression

Crash of 1929 and subsequent depression

Crash of 1987, mini-crash of 1989 and relevant events of the 1990s