Member-only story
How the 2 biggest status symbols of the American Dream came to pose the greatest risk of an inflation crisis
Since WWII, a house and a car have symbolized the American Dream, but their soaring prices now are the main things that could cause runaway inflation.
By Ben Winck and Hillary Hoffower
The American Dream has long paired ideals — opportunity, liberty, and equality — with some material items. A TV. A white picket fence. A yard.
Material prosperity has been part of the equation ever since the US emerged as an economic superpower after World War II in 1945. When rations and restrictions lifted, consumers spent wildly from their wartime savings on everything from cars to homes, with homeownership rates increasing by 21% from 1940 to 1960.
As Larry Samuel, author of “The American Dream: A Cultural History” and founder of consultancy firm Age Friendly Consulting, previously explained to Insider, that era was when homeownership and education became the primary paths to achieving a prosperous ideal grounded in “the good life” — enjoying and signifying financial stability with a nice house in the suburbs and the postwar consumer trappings, with cars the paramount expression.
No passenger cars were manufactured in the US from 1942 through 1945 because of wartime…
