hAfter the Second World War, the United States enjoyed rapid economic growth and a general increase in the standard of living. By the 1970s, the US economy and the dollar dominated the world. Economic changes were matched by political and social changes which escalated during the 1960s. Together they made the post-war period a golden age in the United States.{@Manhattan skyline@
Symbol of prosperity: the twin towers of the World Trade Center (1973) dominate the Manhattan skyline.
