Question

1. Briefly describe laissez-faire economic policies in the Gilded Age.

Answer 1

Answer:

1. The Gilded Age is referred to as the period between 1870 and the early 1900s. It was an era characterized by rapid industrialization, laissez-faire capitalism, and zero income tax. Capitalists resisted government intervention and Captains of industry like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie made fortunes.

The government on the other hand began to seriously shape labor policies

The Laissez-Faire (which is derived from the french word let them be or let them do what they want) was a combination of free-market ideologies, limited government intervention, and social Darwinism.

The liberals also resisted the government's initiatives to made lives better for citizens. They believed that by intervening in the social condition of people, they (especially the African Americans) would not be able to attain their full economic potential which can only be done through competition

Another policy that they imbibed was one that promoted the ability of the individual and the business owner to freely enter into labor agreements

 

2. These liberal policies enabled businesses within that region to expand as entrepreneurs were able to take more risks and invest within the economy

It provided people with the greatest incentive for capitalists to create wealth. This is one of the reasons the economic boom happened.

3. One major similarity between the economic policies in the Jacksonian Era and those of the Gilded Age is that they both promoted liberal trade.

One major feature of the Jacksonian economy is that it triggered a high level of the inflationary boom between 1832 and 1837. This inflationary condition is said to be the fall out of mismanaged policies throughout the administration of President Andrew Jackson.

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