With the U.S. entering an era of increasing wealth inequality, interspersed with calls for social change and societal upheaval, some experts are likening the 2020s to a second Gilded Age. Not every aspect of the first Gilded Age, which ran from the 1870s to the late 1890s, can be seen in modern America. But certain elements have carried over, and some economists have been raising alarm bells about what this could mean going forward.
What characterized the first Gilded Age?
The Gilded Age was a period when the U.S. "became more prosperous and saw unprecedented growth in industry and technology," said History. But it was also a time when "greedy, corrupt industrialists, bankers and politicians enjoyed extraordinary wealth and opulence at the expense of the working class." Most of the power during the Gilded Age was held by America's wealthy, like Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan, not politicians.
Why do experts say the US is in another Gilded Age?
This is largely due to the increase in income inequality. Labor movements are bringing attention to the disparity, "drawing parallels to earlier struggles," said ABC News. As in the Gilded Age, an era of "extreme luxury is returning, which is evident in the increasing number of megamansions" and superyachts.
Both the "late 19th and early 21st centuries saw technological change, increased globalization, economic growth, concentration of wealth, and rising inequality," said the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Both eras also experienced "increased immigration, changing demography and a decline in standing for less-educated rural whites."
As wealth inequality skyrocketed during the first Gilded Age, the "rising country developed new tools to understand and respond appropriately," said the CFR. But unlike the social activism seen during that time, today a "declining country, facing deindustrialization and the emergence of the gig economy, is retreating into ignorance, culture wars and performative outrage."
In the 19th century, most tycoons made their wealth from "railroads, steel and oil. Today, it's technology, finance and pharmaceuticals," said Jim Martin at The Denver Post. The wealth gap "raises questions about the efficacy of democratic institutions and the ability of the government to regulate corporate behavior in the public interest." While the first Gilded Age "faced challenges regarding monopolies and regulations," modern Americans must "grapple with similar issues amid calls for increased corporate responsibility." | 
