[nickles]

> In the era of the gold standard (before the Federal Reserve 'changed' it), there were depressions, but they were quite brief (usually a few months); there were no great depressions or great recessions

You mean The Great Depression of 1929 wasn’t a great depression?

[nickff]

The Federal Reserve really changed the game; I am talking about the free banking era.

[azernik]

Before the establishment of the Fed in 1913, you had the Panic of 1893, which caused a depression until ~1897; before that the Depression of 1882-1885; and before that the Long Depression of 1873 to ~1878.

[nickff]

All of those times also overlap with the so-called 'gilded age' when "rapid expansion of industrialization led to real wage growth of 60% between 1860 and 1890, spread across the ever-increasing labor force.[56] Real wages (adjusting for inflation) rose steadily, with the exact percentage increase depending on the dates and the specific work force."

There were definitely issues, but nothing like the Great Depression of the 1930s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilded_Age#Economic_growth

[azernik]

The 1920s-1960s were also, taken as a whole, a time of enormous economic growth!

You can argue that recessions of the 19th century are okay because other growth balances them out.

You can argue that recessions of the 20th century are bad because of their immediate consequences.

You cannot argue both.