Page 209 - Psychology of Money - Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness-Harriman House Limited (2020)

of a reasonable narrative of how it all happened, my guess is you’d be totally
wrong. Because it isn’t intuitive, and it wasn’t foreseeable.
COBACOBA

What happened in America since the end of World War II is the story of the
American consumer. It’s a story that helps explain why people think about
money the way they do today.

The short story is this: Things were very uncertain, then they were very

good, then pretty bad, then really good, then really bad, and now here we
are. And there is, I think, a narrative that links all those events together. Not
a detailed account. But a story of how things fit together.

Since this is an attempt to link the big events together, it leaves out many
details of what happened during this period. I’m likely to agree with anyone
who points out what I’ve missed. The goal here is not to describe every play;
it’s to look at how one game influenced the next.

Here’s how the modern consumer got here.

1. August, 1945. World War II ends.

Japan surrendering was “The Happiest Day in American History,” The New
York Times wrote.

But there’s the saying, “History is just one damn thing after another.”

The joy of the war ending was quickly met with the question, “What
happens now?”

Sixteen million Americans—11% of the population—served in the war.
About eight million were overseas at the end. Their average age was 23.
Within 18 months all but 1.5 million of them would be home and out of
uniform.