Throughout the 1920s the federal government's attitude towards business was very much hands-off. The prevailing economic and political orthodoxy held that the economy would thrive if government adopted a laissez-faire approach, that is to say a light-touch approach to regulation that would give American businesses the maximum freedom in running their own affairs.
The Republican administrations of the 1920s saw themselves as the friends of business, especially big business, and vigorously pursued business-friendly policies such as low taxation and refusing to intervene to support falling farm prices. The thinking behind such measures was that direct intervention in the running of the economy would do more harm than good. Instead, the government should do no more than cut taxes, set the rules of an appropriately light-touch regulatory system, and stand back to allow businesses to make profits, increase investment, and create jobs.
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