According to the crime writer Leo Katcher, Rothstein "transformed organized crime from a thuggish activity by hoodlums into a big business, run like a corporation, with himself at the top."[3] According to Rich Cohen, Rothstein was the person who first realized that Prohibition was a business opportunity, a means to enormous wealth, who "understood the truths of early century capitalism and came to dominate them."[4] His notoriety inspired several fictional characters based on his life, portrayed in contemporary and later short stories, novels, musicals and films.
Насчет "расцвета депрессии" - хз, а вот у истоков бутлега, и организованной преступности как мы ее знаем стоял лично и конкретно Арнольд "Мозг" Ротштейн.