America could be in for a second Gilded Age

As the United States enters an era of rising wealth inequality — peppered with calls for social change and societal upheaval — some experts are comparing the 2020s to a second Golden Age. And with the widening gap between rich and poor, that doesn’t seem like an off-base assessment.

Not every aspect of the first Gilded Age, which lasted from the 1870s to the 1890s, can be seen in modern America. But certain elements of the late 19th century have carried over to the present day, and some economists have sounded the alarm about what this could mean in the future.

The Gilded Age was a time when the United States “became more prosperous and experienced unprecedented growth in industry and technology,” said History. But it was also a time “when greedy and corrupt industrialists, bankers and politicians enjoyed extraordinary wealth and opulence at the expense of the working class”. Most of the power during the Gilded Age was vested by America’s richnot politicians.

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When most people think of the Gilded Age, they think of extravagantly wealthy tycoons like Andrew Carnegie and JP Morgan. What also comes to mind are the “homes of the Gilded Age elite,” which were “nothing short of spectacular,” History said. Many of “America’s most famous mansions were built during the Gilded Age,” including the Vanderbilt family’s Biltmore Estate, which is still the largest private home in the US.

That wealth inequality has skyrocketed during the first Golden Age, “the rising country developed new tools to understand and respond appropriately,” the CFR said. But unlike the social activism seen during that period, today a “declining country, facing deindustrialization and the emergence of the gig economy, retreats into ignorance, culture wars and performative outrage.” This means that there is likely to be no “quick fix to the country’s major problems”.

In the 19th century, most tycoons made their fortunes from “railroads, steel and oil. Today, it’s technology, finance and pharmaceuticals,” said Jim Martin at Denver Post. The wealth gap “raises questions about the effectiveness of democratic institutions and the ability of government to regulate corporate behavior in the public interest.” While the first Gilded Age “faced challenges in terms of monopolies and regulation,” modern Americans must “wrestle with similar issues amid calls for increased corporate responsibility.”

What characterized the first Golden Age?