Reawakening The Giant

Most people that knew him, inside aides and journalists, had great respect for Ronald Reagan. David Broder of the Washington Post said of Reagan, “One of the most remarkable demonstrators of Presidential leadership in modern history.”3 George F. Will, syndicated commentator, noted in 1992 that the world was better off than it was 10 years ago, and that Reagan was partly responsible.4 Insiders all spoke of how Reagan was the man in charge of the administration. Reagan was the man c

ion, which figures what percentage of the total assets owned by all individuals is owned by a certain class. For example, take all the income, investment, and property of all the people in the uppermost quintile , and divide that number by all the income, investment, and property of all the people in the nation, that percentage will tell how much of the ‘economic pie’ the quintile owns. From 1981 to 1989, the wealth distribution shifted in favor of the lower and middle classes, and away from the upper class. This means that even though the rich may have gotten richer (which they did), the middle and lower classes got richer at a higher rate. As the rich became richer, it led to an increase in total tax collected in 1989 than in 1982, which gave the government more revenue. Furthermore, average minority income increased the most.28 This was important because it attracted more minorities by offering more jobs. When minorities see other minorities become successful, it giv!

Change in real family income of poorest quintile, 1973-1995 (Source 12)

deficit financing, and easier credit ‘pulled the nation’.44 He concedes, like Mr. Nader, that loosened regulations helped the economy as well. Along with these accusations, he attacks Reagan for his domestic spending policies. He writes, “The axe fell most heavily on the remnants of Great Society programs that helped the poor.”45 Others say that the expansion was just a natural market trend.

GDP growth was very impressive, better than pre- and post- Reagan years. The only period to beat the Reagan Era since WWII was the Kennedy years. An important point to mention is that Kennedy, like Reagan, proposed and passed a major tax rate cut. In fact, it was 20% bigger than Reagan’s. The per capita growth rate under Kennedy was about 4%. The period between 1981 to 1989 was a 3.2% growth rate.32 This growth rate is based on the gross national product divided by the number of people in the country; it is also referred to as the per capita GDP. Also, between 1980 and 1988 the net Gross Domestic Product grew 179%. Kennedy sold his tax cut plan with the phrase, “A rising tide lifts all boats.”33 This line reiterates the theory of supply-side economics, and a related theory negatively named ‘trickle-down economics.’ It says that when the rich have more money, that money ‘trickles down’ to the people of the lower classes. Kennedy believed this to be true, and so did!

If the credibility of Rush Limbaugh is uncertain, listen to this, “Many feel that I need to be balanced with equal time. Wrong. I am equal time.”49

Some topics in this essay:
Walter Williams, Meese Reagan, Democratic Senate, Ralph Nader, Ronald Reagan, Domestic Product, Federal Reserve, War Reagan, Milton Friedman, Inflation Rates, economic expansion, tax cut, source 12, supply-side economics, reagan administration, tax cuts, 1973-1995 source 12, 1973-1995 source, domestic spending, reagan economic, economic indicator, reagan economic expansion, cut followed 10%, source 12 change, lower middle classes,