I do agree that the US handled the situation relatively well in the second half of the 20th century, plenty of such opportunities have been squantered badly.

But we cannot ignore that it was truly a unique opportunity:

- The US was the only intact industrial country left after WWII.

- With massive momentum from industrial deployment during the war.

- With a massive optimistic and hardened workforce coming home.

- With plenty of saved wartime income they didn't have a chance to spend due to rationing and shortages, a lot of it saved as wartime bonds just starting to deliver healthy yields.

- With the New Deal that resulted from the horrible Great Depression making sure they got to truly benefit from the fruits of their labour.

- And a wide-open global market to lend to and to sell to for rebuilding the world.

That is not something that can be replicated easily at any time, and if the US makes decisions expecting that that is the norm, there's a disaster coming (perhaps it's why it's a disaster now).

> the US wealth inequality was demonstrably not as much as an issue for some of the time in between

But now we're back to pre ww1 level of inequalities

https://static.guim.co.uk/ni/1415721490539/Wealth_line-chart...