Beginning of Essay
During World War I, federal spending grows three times larger than tax collections. When the government cuts back spending to balance the budget in 1920, a severe recession results. However, the war economy invested heavily in the manufacturing sector, and the nex ....

Middle of Essay
.... will swallow up more than 6,000 previously independent companies; by 1929, only 200 corporations will control over half of all American industry. By the end of the decade, the bottom 80 percent of all income-earners will be removed from the tax rolls completely. Taxes on the rich will fall throughout the decade. By 1929, the richest 1 percent will own 40 percent of the nation's wealth. The bottom 93 percent will have experienced a 4 percent drop in real disposable per-capita income between 1923 and 1929. The middle class comprises only 15 to 20 percent of all Americans. Individual worker productivity rises an astonishing 43 percent from ....