With hindsight, it would become clear that the underlying health of the national economy during the twenties was more fragile than it seemed at the time. Most of the income gains during the decade would go to the wealthy, adding to the already considerable income disparities and social inequality and weakening the underpinnings of a society that still lacked a social safety net. Such problems are uncomfortably familiar to those who lived through the financial crash of 2008–09 and its aftermath, particularly in the
