In addition to what Dr. Herbener said in response to your question over in the Austrian Economics forum I would add that a lot of the prosperity of the 1950s was the result of extensive deregulation undertaken in the aftermath of WW II. On this see Robert Higgs’ article “Wartime Prosperity? A Reassessment of the US Economy in the 1940s” (available online at independent.org) and the article titled “The Great Depression of 1946” by Vedder and Galloway (available on mises.org).
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