What were the key lessons of the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression?

Answer 1

The consequences of over indulgence, the foolishness of speculation, the true fragility of our nations economics were all lessons from the twenties, The Great Depression retaught us self reliance, healthy scepticism, and thrift.

Answer 2

I don't know about too many lessons of the 'Roaring Twenties', which were characterised by a throwing-off of social restrictions, as often happens after a large and bloody war. People who have helped their nation survive tend to be assertive of their freedoms and rights to have fun.

The 20s saw also the assertion of science, technology and the age of Reason: for instance there was an important trial in which a teacher was accused of teaching evolution. Suburbs developed, to allow people to leave squalid city slums and commute to work on public transport. Technical developments had to serve the people, not just a narrow and wealthy minority (see above reason why).

The 30s depression showed that business cannot be trusted without regulation and oversight. Without laws, business will gorge irresponsibly and take no account of social responsibility. Governments have to deal with problems like mass unemployment, crime and starvation... because while today we say 'these people should take responsibility for themselves and get a job', and companies should pay little or no tax, then governments and companies could see that they would be simply swept away when they ceased to serve societies. Communism, Fascism, unions and laws were all threats to the unfettered power of capital... and companies accepted that their actions should be regulated simply in order that they should survive (see Keynsian economic)

World War 2 was directly caused by the poverty of the depression, underlining how society's disadvantaged cannot be left to suffer. WW2 was won by close supervision of private industry by co-ordinating governments, that worked for the public good and not for the good of their financial backers. Today, we don't care about these lessons.

Answer 3

As far as the Roaring Twenties, this usually refers to the gangster Thompson machine guns roaring on gang enemies. Prohibition opened up a whole business for illegal bootleggers and gangsters. No one wanted to give up drinking so after the great experiment started in 1914 I think, it made many gangsters very wealthy until the late 1920's.Old Joe Kennedy, father of JFK was into the bootleg business but so were many people rich and poor.