Mood matters. The ebb and flow of our free market economy is based on Americans' mood.

We were optimistic in the 50s. Having survived the Great Depression and won World War II we longed for normalcy and that was restored. The GI Bill, and continuation of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, made people hopeful.

We avoided what happened after World War I. Veterans were discharged then into a failing economy that ended in the Great Depression. Civil unrest culminated in desperate veterans marching on Washington to demand payment of promised bonuses. Disastrous riots ensued, police shot veterans, President Hoover ordered the United States Army to use force to clear the marchers' campsite.

Returning World War II veterans were optimistic because Congress passed The GI Bill of Rights. The Federal Government provided veterans funds for education, home and farm loans, unemployment allowances, job-finding assistance and Federal job preference.

Money made life better. GI Bill loans paid for the purchase, construction or improvement of property, purchase of a farm or farm equipment. Home ownership grew rapidly. Home construction led to an expansion of suburban areas and increased infrastructure for transportation. The Veterans Administration guaranteed over two million home loans by 1950.

Colleges were no longer reserved for a small collection of elite men. World War II veterans were nearly half of all college admissions. State universities increased the size of dormitories and classroom buildings. Veteran exposure to universities opened the door to careers before unattainable.

Anyone who wanted a job had one that paid well enough to buy what was needed. By 1950 I had a new pair of tennis shoes, church shoes and two pairs of blue jeans as school began. We felt rich.

Other booty arrived. One early spring day my classmates and I were astonished to hear a roar on the road outside our one-room school. We witnessed delivery of Dad's new self-propelled Massey Harris combine harvester. Our new 1949 Ford delivered us to Florida, our first "family" trip. Newly affluent Howard and Esther bought each child a camera and sisters Ruth and Carolyn and I took lots of pictures which we eventually transformed into photo albums.

Our mood changed In the 60s. Americans were divided about The United States of America being engaged in a war in Vietnam. In the 70s President Nixon was forced to resign for having tried to rig his election and then we lost the war in Vietnam. Worse, Iranian zealots seized and held Americans hostage. We were humiliated and angry.

Ronald Reagan, an actor good at playing the wise caring Grandfather, was elected President in 1980. His charismatic optimism convinced Americans everyone would be better off if large corporations were allowed to reduce competition by merging and by increasing profits by off-shoring production to nations like China where labor was cheap. Tax policies were changed to favor the wealthy.

President Reagan sold the idea that executives would invest increased profits into economic development that would "trickle-down" prosperity to the general public.

Trickle down didn't work. Almost all of the money thus earned went to top executives, owners and into off-shore tax avoidance havens for the rich. Top-executive compensation soared to hundreds of times more than what workers earned.

Foreign competition arrived. European nations united into the European Common Market, Japan became the second largest economy in the world then faded. Eventually China emerged as the world's second largest economy by selling goods to us that we used to manufacture here.

Income inequality soared. The magical period in American economic history, when the economic pie had grown rapidly and divided more fairly, ended. Decline of the middle-class was masked by emergence of dual income families and increased use of extended credit terms that made it possible to ignore what was happening.

Today the wealthiest 10% of Americans holds 72% of this nation's wealth with the top 1% alone holding 34%. On the opposite end the poorest 150 million Americans now hold only 2% of this nation's wealth. It has become increasingly difficult for many Americans to maintain their place in the middle-class.

The Great Recession of 2008 was greed induced. Laws had been changed to deregulate lending and security markets. Predatory mortgage lending led to massive consumer debt secured by homes that lost their value due to deflation. The economy collapsed and millions of Americans lost their jobs, homes and hope.

American Recovery Act dollars, mostly sent to bankers, gradually led to economic recovery. Bankers used some of the money to help banks, businesses and citizens recover and gave themselves bonuses. None of the bankers went to jail and it took a decade for citizens to regain trust in our economic system.

The Economic collapse of 2020 was Covid-19 caused. Having led recovery from the 2008 debacle newly elected President Biden knew what to do. Federal relief and recovery legislation, together with the opening of the economy and implementing measures to control the virus, made quick recovery possible. Combining economic relief with the rapid reindustrialization resulted in the fastest economic recovery in history.

What is amazing is that nearly three out of every four Americans believe the country is on the wrong track. Inflation is probably why. Unfortunately the money (medicine) given citizens, companies and agencies to cure the 2020 economic collapse caused inflation. The price of gasoline, rent, food and most everything else rose.

In reality most workers' real wages, adjusted for inflation, are significantly higher than they were before the pandemic yet voters are wary. Inflated prices are higher than most people can stand.

Another explanation is that constant negative news, generated by our toxic political climate, and accelerated by social media and incendiary talk shows, sways public perception.

Americans are taking charge. One obvious response to the Economic Collapse of 2020 is reindustrialization of America along with reemergence of unionization and collective bargaining as a force to be reckoned with. Strikes work when the economy is strong and workers are scarce. Amazon workers organized and negotiated living wages, automotive workers, health care workers and others are doing the same.

Having money improved the national mood in the 50s proves we know how to do it and that could happen again.