This is almost the only book in its topic. Was initially published in 1955 and has been periodically up-dated and reissued many times since. this ed. is of 1983, but there is a current one for 2012. ( )

In the 1920's, the administrations of Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge were openly dedicated to the principle that business should be "free to grow" without government "meddling". [398] Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover encouraged businesses to consolidate, for reasons of "efficiency", and large trade associations were permitted to set prices. Anti-trust laws were not enforced by the men appointed to the Federal Trade Commission. The giant conglomerate became the trademark of the 1920s.

In 1917 legislation was finally passed at the national level to prohibit the consumption of alcohol. Enforcement was tightened in the Volstead Act of 1919.
Automobiles were the economic symbols of the 1920s. Annual production rose from 1.5 in 1920 to 4.8 million in 1929. By 1930, 60% of America's families owned a car.
Over the decade, another major growth sector was electric appliances--ranges, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, and especially remarkable, the radio. By the end of the decade, 40% of American families owned radios.
One of the important developments occurred on the demand side, a fact revealed only recently in the 1991 work of Martha Olney. She limned the important impact of consumer credit -- "buy now pay later", and demand-side economics.

This revised edition was published just as President Obama took office in 2010. ( )