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the problems of society—such as poverty, violence, greed, racism, and class warfare—could be addressed by providing better education and safer, fairer workplaces. They felt that it was the government’s job to ensure these conditions were met. “Social reformers like Jane Addams and journalists like Jacob Riis and Ida Tarbell were powerful voices for progressivism. They concentrated on exposing the evils of corporate greed, combating fear of immigrants, and urging Americans to think hard about what democracy meant,” notes an article from George Washington University. “On a national level, progressivism gained a strong voice in the White House when Theodore Roosevelt became president in 1901. TR believed that strong corporations were good for America, but he also believed that corporate behavior must be watched to ensure that corporate greed did not get out of hand (trust-busting and federal regulation of business).” 5 One of the institutions created by Progressives during the early years of the twentieth century was the Federal Reserve, a central bank designed to control the supply of money in the United States. The purpose of this central bank was to control the rate of price inflation and to keep the economy growing at a steady rate. The modern income tax was also created by the progressives. After the First World War ended in 1918, the United States experienced an economic boom that lasted for much of the 1920s. However, in 1929 the stock market crashed,

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Contemporary Issues: Jobs and Economy