From the surface, the “Roaring Twenties” appeared to be a time of great prosperity, but digging deeper, one can see that the prosperity was backed up with false promises and fake money. Unintentionally fraudulent actions lead to the longest economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world. The ingrained culture of overinvesting and overconfidence within the American society during the 1920’s was the driving force behind the Great Depression. The culture of overinvesting was encouraged by the mindset of “buy now pay later”. Overinvesting was committed by everyone, from wealthy business owners to unwary common folk. Fantastic stories of sudden fortune from stocks brought everyone into the market, even those who could not
