[Out of the Box]

Originally Posted by EireEngineer

Well, it was the FDR administration for most of it, so he was probably too busy with jailing butchers for selling too cheaply, packing the court, and trying to set a 100% marginal tax rate at $25,000.

I bet the real reason is the fact that the US is an individualist nation where making short term profit has been a primary motive since the beginning, unlike older Eurasian cultures where other motives have always been more important (although it is worth noting that unfortunately European and Asian countries are copying the malign American ways).