Prior to
1901, US companies were family-owned. There was no income tax, inheritance tax
or corporate tax and few government restrictions. Companies had funded
themselves and weathered the Industrial Revolution and were busy applying
scientific discoveries of individuals who were also operating independently.
In 1890,
Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act to prevent companies from becoming
monopolies. This was the beginning of the end of consumers’ rights to control
prices using the “law of supply and demand”.
In 1901,
President Theodore Roosevelt campaigned to break up Standard Oil for becoming a
monopoly. Standard Oil was broken up in 1911. The owner John D Rockefeller
retained his stock in the successor companies.
In 1913,
Congress delegated its power to “coin money” and manage the US economy to the
Federal Reserve Bank. Congress also passed the US Income Tax Act and
Inheritance Tax Act. Families who owned the big companies began to form public
corporations and Charity Trusts to deal with the loss of their net worth.
Consumers were destined to lose control of prices and suffer massive inflation.
The 1913 dollar is now worth 3 cents.
Commerce lost its freedom and incentives. Families lost their place as
the primary unit of the US economy. Government seized it.
The
economic damage caused by government mismanagement can appear decades later. US
government failure to follow the US Constitution, overregulation of the private
sector economy, government overspending and government overreach cause systemic
damage to the US economy.
US
Cumulative inflation increased by 92.86% from 1913 to 1919 and increased by
103.45 from 1970 to 1979.
US
economic indicators are found in stock market averages and inflation. These
scores can be viewed historically by President.
401K Plans were authorized in 1978 and stock values soared in 1993.
US
President–Term–S&P Ave–Inflation Ave
Theodore
Roosevelt 1901-1909
William
Taft 1909-1913
Woodrow
Wilson 1913-1921
Warren
Harding 1921-1923
Calvin
Coolidge 1923-1929 23.07
Herbert
Hoover 1929-1933 13.68 -6.34
Franklin
Roosevelt 1933-1945 10.16 2.64
Harry
Truman 1945-1953 14.85 5.34
Dwight
Eisenhower 1953-1961 43.18 1.53
John
Kennedy 1961-1963 66.15 1.10
Lyndon
Johnson 1963-1969 90.21 2.62
Richard
Nixon 1969-1974 99.06 4.53
Gerald
Ford 1974-1977 90.33 8.03
Jimmy
Carter 1977-1981 104.00 10.38
Ronald
Reagan 1981-1989 224.07 4.41
George HW
Bush 1989-1993 362.41 4.18
Bill
Clinton 1993-2001
854.72 2.45
George W
Bush 2001-2009 949.73 2.41
Barak
Obama 2009-2017 1558.27 1.75
Donald
Trump 2017-present 2797.76 1.93
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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