frflyer

Are We More Like 1932 - or 1923?

But what makes this similar to 1932 as opposed to 1923 is the wild west days on Wall St. like in the 1920s, wild speculation, and concentration of wealth in few hands.
With wage earners not having a raise in buying power since 1973, is it any wonder that most can't afford to own a home and pay their mortgage? The wealthy controlled about 20% of wealth in the early 70s and now control 35%

Corporate taxes as percent of GDP is 2% now, as opposed to 3% in the early 70s and 4%-5% in the 50s and 60s. The mean net worth of the top 20% is up 75% since the early 80s, while real wages are down 12% since 1978.
Workers have compensated by going into debt and having two earners per household to make do on what one earner could manage with in the 50 and 60s. The two earner household has higher cost of living, canceling out some of the benefits of having mom and dad work. Now you need two cars, childcare, etc., so both can work, and most are still in debt.

Comparisons of the 20s or 30s with today are probably not completely accurate.