Source: Law & Liberty
by Brian Domitrovic
“The American economy in the quarter century after 1865 remains without exaggeration the greatest example of material development and the expansion of mass prosperity in world history. We cannot compare ourselves favorably to the best economy that ever was, namely the Gilded Age (the term comes from a Mark Twain book of 1873), but we can and should aspire to emulate the best. If we are not in a new Gilded Age today — we are not, because we are not growing enough — it would be commendable if we aspired to be. Perhaps the HBO series (which takes place in the 1880s) is striking a chord because we were once that good, and we know we can be again.” (12/10/25)