I lived during Reagan. He was a fucked up president that Republicans have exaggerated into a hero. His trickle down theory of economics created the inequality we have today and his lassiez faire economics started the outsourcing of American jobs that "working class whites" blame on liberals. He set records for deficits and debt. Because of his policies, he was forced to raise taxes 11 times to stop the US economy from crashing.
ALAN SIMPSON: Ronald Reagan raised taxes 11 times in his administration. I was here. I was here. I knew him. Better than anybody in this room. He was a dear friend and a total realist as to politics.
HORSLEY: Simpson's recollection is spot on, says historian Douglas Brinkley, the editor of Reagan's diaries.
DOUGLAS BRINKLEY: Ronald Reagan was never afraid to raise taxes. He knew that it was necessary at times. And so there's a false mythology out there about Reagan as this conservative president who came in and just cut taxes and trimmed federal spending in a dramatic way. It didn't happen that way. It's false.
In his presidency, on June 4, 1987, Reagans policies turned America from a creditor nation to a debtor nation.
Reagan mythology is leading US off a cliff
During Reagan’s presidency, the US went from a creditor to debtor nation and marked a take-off for financial inequality.
The idea that Reagan produced a uniquely booming economy is false
First, Reagan’s record on the economy was not just exaggerated by his boosters, it’s almost exactly the opposite of what they claim. It was a fairly ordinary time by the most common measurements of economic growth, looking good only in comparison with a selective time-slice of the 1970s. But once you start looking beneath the surface even the tiniest bit, the picture turns very dark indeed.
In terms of the most basic measure of economic growth – increase in gross domestic product (GDP) – the vaunted “Reagan boom” was an unremarkable period of time. If we look at Reagan’s eight years, and compare them with Clinton’s and JFK/LBJ’s, Reagan comes in dead last, with 31.7 per cent compared with Clinton’s 33.1 per cent and JFK/LBJ’s 47.1 per cent. Only Nixon/Ford’s eight years make Reagan look good, with a mere 26.2 per cent growth.
The idea that Reagan brought prosperity is true only for those at the top, not for average American workers
If we examine incomes, we discover that Reagan’s eight years marked a real take-off for inequality, while average incomes stagnated. The income growth of the top once per cent was ten times that of everyone else during his term: 61.5 per cent versus 6.15 per cent. Under JFK/LBJ, the bottom 99 per cent actually did better: gaining 30.9 per cent compared with 26.9 per cent for the top once per cent. And while inequality continued to rise under Clinton, the bottom 99 per cent did more than twice as well as they did under Reagan, gaining 16.7 per cent compared with 56.6 per cent for the wealthiest one per cent.
The idea that Reagan was good for the American economy in general is false
Reagan was a disaster for the American economy in at least four fundamental ways:
Debtor Nation Status: Under Ronald Reagan, the US went from being the world’s largest creditor nation to the largest debtor nation in just a few years – and we have remained the largest debtor nation ever since.
During Reagan’s presidency, the US went from a creditor to debtor nation and marked a take-off for financial inequality.
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So nobody needs to read anything from Reagan, canuck. How about you go read a speech by Pierre Trudeau.
