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sparkyhodgo t1_j8k6urm wrote

The most surprising thing to me is the dip after the US Civil War. I had expected a sharp uptick from the USA once industrialization prevailed, but perhaps the situation in the postbellum South skewed the numbers.

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oryx_za t1_j8k8ebj wrote

Don't forget what the British were doing during that period.

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absolute_yote t1_j8mqhv9 wrote

What’s that

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oryx_za t1_j8n2knc wrote

Building up the largest empire on earth. They pretty much peaked in the 1900s

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SpreadEagleCros_s t1_j8mscr6 wrote

Between Jackson and the creation of the Federal Reserve, the USA had an extremely unstable banking system. In the latter half of the 19th century after the Civil War, the US economy was beset by financial panics that caused depressions much longer and more severe than the ones seen today. For instance, the Panic of 1873 lasted 6 years and saw double digit unemployment. The Panic of 1893 lasted 4 years. Still, there kind of is a sharp uptick that you see on this graph. It’s just that the World Wars were the much more important events in boosting America to the place in the world it has today (and conversely, in weakening Great Britain)

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TheNightIsLost t1_j8srb3h wrote

> instance, the Panic of 1873 lasted 6 years and saw double digit unemployment. The Panic of 1893 lasted 4 years.

The Great Depression lasted for 12 years of high unemployment, and it happened AFTER the Fed was made.

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