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REAGANOMICS. "Individual freedom and the profit motive were the engines of progress which transformed an American wilderness into an economic dynamo that provided the American people with a standard of living that is still the envy of the world." .
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"Individual freedom and the profit motive were the engines of progress which transformed an American wilderness into an economic dynamo that provided the American people with a standard of living that is still the envy of the world."
“Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. Recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.”
Restore Laissez-Faire • Deregulation • Tax Cuts • Dismantle the Welfare State Military Build-up as Economic Stimulus
Union Busting • Decline in wages, benefits, security • Unemployment & Fear • Off-shore investment and out-sourcing lead to loss of manufacturing jobs • Only women in the workplace keep families’ heads above water • No increase in standard of living since 1970
James Watt Secretary of the Interior "I do not know how many future generations we can count on before the Lord returns. Whatever it is we have to manage with a skill to leave the nresources needed for future generations.
Banking Deregulation Distinctions between savings banks and commercial banks blur in terms of who gets credit, how much, in what form and for how long. Impacts commercial lending, credit cards, checking accounts, etc.
Deregulation of the Stock Market: Hostile takeovers, junk bond trading, leveraged buy-outs, etc.
The Holy Grail TAX CUTS
Supply-side Economics Trickle-down David Stockman
Dismantle the Welfare State! • Cuts to Social Welfare Programs • Unfunded entitlements
“I’m trying to undo the Great Society. It’s the war on poverty that led to this.”
“Well, the damn thing is, it’s been so exaggerated. Millions! There aren’t millions [of homeless.] Real research reveals probably three hundred thousand or less, nationwide. And a lot of those are the type of people that have made that choice. For example, more than 40% of them are retarded, mentally Deficient people – that is the result of the Civil Liberties Union.
Homelessness in the late 1980s • 600,000 on any given night • 1.2 million over the course of a year
Mentally Ill: On the street or in jail
Cuts to Education • Unfunded mandates
Starve the Beast Theory Step 1: Cut taxes Step 2: Now there is no money for services Step 3: Underfunded government functions poorly Step 4: “Government isn’t the solution; government is the Problem.” Step 5: Cut taxes further….. Step 6: Confidence in government plummets
Defense Spending Grows From 5% to 8% of GDP
Impact • Economic Miracle? • More efficient economy • 8-year economic expansion • Based on defense spending
• Reduced Federal Spending • Unfunded entitlements (e.g., Medicare, Social Security, etc.) • Degrading Infrastructure (e.g., airports, highways, parks, etc.) • Cuts in R&D (e.g., science, humanities, etc.)
Reduced Federal Allocations to the States • Unfunded mandates • Burden shifts to states on • Education • Infrastructure • Social Welfare Regressive state taxes (e.g., sales, property, licensing, etc.) favor the rich
Uneven Expansion • New breed of billionaire • Decline of the middle class • Poor bear the burden of reduced services
Decline in Production Economy; Rise in Service Economy • Reduction in federal infrastructure jobs • Union busting
The Age of Greed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Muz1OcEzJOs
• Protestant Ethic? • Mid-century sense of mutual responsibility? • Hippie anti-materialism?
