Locator: 48783ROARINGTWENTIES.
Tag: roaring 20s roaring twenties
Three concurrent thoughts:
- in an interview this morning on CNBC, a talking head mentioned, in passing, the roaring 20s;
- look at the recent articles on $300,000 EVs; not out of the ordinary;
- median house price in Silicon Valley is now above $1.5 million.
Okay, a fourth:
- "Cary Grant's" house overlooking Los Angeles is on the market for $77.5 million.
Now, go back to this post, December 27, 2024, Donald Trump had just won the election:
Note: The Great Gatsy was published April 10, 1925.
This might be as good a time as any to re-read a Reader's Digest version of the US economic boom, 1922 to 1929; and, then re-read The Great Gatsby (or watch the movie).
For me, one rendition of the Reader's Digest version of the US economic boom in the 20s:
The
postwar recession that had rocked [William Randolph] Hearst's business
empire and made life so difficult for [his accountant] Jim Moore, who
had to pay the bills -- was as short-lived as it had been severe.
By 1922, the American economy had embarked upon an extraordinary seven-year growth cycle.
The business boom was stimulated
by the beneficent tax policy that President Warren Harding's secretary
of the treasury, the Pittsburgh industrialist Andrew Mellon, shepherded
through a Republican-dominated Congress.
Maximum tax rates
for individuals were reduced from a wartime high of 77 percent to 24
percent, excess profits taxes were abolished, and lower rates were set
for capital gains. Hearst benefited additionally when Secretary Mellon's
appointees at the Income Tax Bureau reduced his tax liabilities for the
war by by $1,737,097.
Taking full advantage of the economic boom
and Republican tax policies, Hearst went on a buying spree... two
evening papers and a morning paper ... another evening paper in 1922 ...
and then started three new dailies ...
Hearst, who never paid
cash for anything, borrowed recklessly to make each of these purchases.
by the end of 1922, he had exhausted his working capital to pay off
existing debt obligations and was still a half million dollars short of
meeting them all.
If you had not guessed, that was from The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst, David Nasaw, c. 2000, p. 315.
Are you still with me?
I don't know if one can find some comparison with World War I from which most western countries were still recoving and a) the 12-day Israeli-Iran war; and, b) the Ukraine-Putin war?
That comment about the expensive EV above. From June 28, 2025, just last month:
First, this morning we had the story of GM Cadillac Celestiq:
Link here.
Earlier, we had this: the starting price for a new Range Rover is around $107,400. Range 300 miles.
Prices can increase significantly depending on the trim level, wheelbase, and options chosen. For example, the Range Rover SV can start at $209,000 for a standard wheelbase and go up to $234,000 for a long wheelbase.
And now this: link here.
I'm
not looking for these stories. They pop up on my various feeds and seem
to be associated with the sixth industrial revolution, and stories
about making America great again.
Then,
"combine" these stories with the $50-million Bezos wedding and one
starts to get another feeling.... the gilded age, the roaring 20's. Not
the 1920s -- the great Jay Gatsby -- but the gay (and literally, in some
cases, really "gay") 20s, but this time, the 2020s.
And million-dollar bonuses for software engineers.
Back to today: CNBC talking heads tell us this is a bad economy. Say what? GDP likely to come in above 2.5%; headline inflation having dropped from 9.5% to 2.5%; full employment; a president who wants to cut taxes; and pressure for the Fed to cut rates.
Sara Eisen reminded us that just a few months ago (early April?) there was talk of a recession. Now, no such talk, she says. No talk of a recession.
