"A Tale of Today":
A term coined by Mark Twain in his 1873 novel of the same name, the "Gilded Age" was a time of serious economic issues in the U.S. in the late 19th century, usually masked by the wealth and opulence of the upper tier of American society. Much of the time period featured a growing rift between social classes, the rich growing richer, and the poor becoming poorer still. Despite the wealth gap, economic growth was still bullish throughout the late 19th century, as worker wages increased by more than 60% due to massive industrialization (especially in the railroads.) Despite two major panics and the economic devastation of the post-war South, the main issue of the time period was corruption by robber barons and political machines, who monopolized business and workers and bribed Congressmen, respectively. It set the stage for John Pierpont Morgan to assert his dominance on the economic spectrum.
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"If you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it."
~ J.P. Morgan