Are we about to enter another ‘Roaring Twenties’? Some experts certainly think so. In a recent article, the Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane said the UK economy was “poised like a coiled spring”.
But before we dust off our cocktail dresses and practice our cabaret, we would do well to learn the right lessons from the original Roaring Twenties. Nothing better captures that decade like F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic book ‘The Great Gatsby’. Published in 1925, the novel interrogates the life of a mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his world of exuberant stocks, soaring inequality and extravagant parties.
Nearly a century after publication, the book can still provide valuable lessons in both literature and economics. Significantly, it provides a clue to unlocking one of the most pressing economic questions of our time: who should pay for the COVID-19 pandemic?
