The Influence Of Ronald Reagan's Domestic Policies

Reaganomics was economics policies which were propelled by United States President, Ronald Reagan during 1980s. These policies were based on fours pillars namely; reduction of the growth of government spending, reduction of income and capital gains marginal tax rates, reduction of government regulation of economy, and controlling of the money in supply so as to reduce inflation. Their basic aims were to lower taxes and create a leaner government. According to Reagan his decision was informed on stimulation of the economy taxes, financed by borrowing. Lowering taxes was aimed at reviving the economy, which in turn would see the increased tax revenues being used to offset the debts incurred (Niskanen

Ronald Reagan, President of the United States from 1981 through 1989, created economic policies throughout his presidency that aimed to pull the United States out of a recession. His policies, called Reaganomics, reduced government spending and reduced tax rates in order to foster economic growth. Reagan also appointed many conservative judges to the Supreme Court and federal courts in order to shift ideologies to the right. Because of this, Reagan was both underrated and overrated as a president.

Reagan really focused on improving the economy during his presidency, with a plan he called Reaganomics, or supply side economics. The main parts of this plan were cuts on taxes and budgets, and monetary policy. Also, he wanted to reduce government regulation on businesses. He thought that these and increasing defense expenditures would heighten economic efficiency. Reagan managed to cut taxes by twenty five percent in three years. However, the plans did not work out at first, causing a recession that some call “The Great Inflation.” The national debt heightened substantially, and the rate of unemployment reached up to eleven percent. Despite these negative outcomes, the economy experienced a sudden growth and prosperity in 1983, which was

In 1980, the United States was emerging from a troubled decade. The 1970s had been marked by an ugly end to the Vietnam War, the demoralizing Watergate spectacle, rampant inflation, unemployment and an energy crisis. The Soviets had just invaded Afghanistan, rejuvenating

The election of 1980 marked a ‘new political era’ that was ushered in by President Reagan and that followed on through the presidencies of George H. W. Bush and William Jefferson Clinton. These presidents were inaugurated at different times and succeeded the successes and the failures of their predecessors. Having came from different political backgrounds and having unique political and social beliefs, Bush, Reagan, and Clinton can only be analyzed through their foreign policies, domestic policies, achievements as well as shortcomings, and legacies.

Politics in the U.S. during the 1980’s were exciting. Much like everything else during this decade, politics were changing and making a new way for economic development and social construct. Policy in the 1980’s were both huge on foreign policy, and domestic development. The cold war, being the main concern with foreign policy, consisted of Communism versus Democracy, or Socialism versus Capitalism. President Reagan being the face of America and our Commander and Chief, created “Reaganomics,” which fought for small Government, and utilized Government spending in a way that would effectively establish National Security as well as make a name for himself as being known as one of the most popular presidents in United State’s history. Though these issues took place some thirty years ago, it is safe to say that the tribulations we faced as a nation in the eighties have directly affected society in 2015.

President Reagan’s radical tax cuts lead to a decrease in unemployment and an increase in incomes for Americans of all statuses. Despite the fact that, “in the late 1970s, the US economy was experiencing what was then the greatest economic crisis since the great depression… almost every economic measure substantially improved after Reagan’s reforms took effect” (Hannaford). Editors Pat Hannaford and Darcy Allen observe that, “by reducing America’s tax burden, Reagan’s

It is even abnormal for the rate of inflation to reach double digits. In fact, most of the time the rate of inflation stays below 5 percent. In addition to the increasing rate of inflation, the unemployment rates were at 7.6 percent (Marsico 62-63). The nation did not like this because more people were out of jobs, yet the cost of products were continuing to increase. Reagan’s plan was to have Congress embrace financial policies, decrease government spending and reduce its regulation of business. Most people know this plan as Reaganomics. His whole plan relied solely on the Economic Recovery Tax Act, which cut taxes over a three year period. The reason he relied on the recovery tax act was because he wanted the act to help people save money (Marsico 63-64). He wanted people to save money so that they could pay bills and taxes; in the long run, if people save money, it helps the government. Also, it would help people invest in the stock market and

They elected Ronald Reagan in 1980 who had a controversial plan for fixing the U.S. economy, later dubbed “Reaganomics.”

President Ronald Reagan, the man who is accredited with ended the forty six year cold war was elected on Nov. 4, 1980. Reagan won his election with fifty percent of the popular vote over former President Jimmy Carter who had forty one percent. While Reagan as a president is praised for such successes as strengthening the national defense, stimulating growth in the U.S. economically, and as mentioned before he is considered the President who ended the Cold War. President Reagan had achieved many things by the end of his administration, but just as he had many successes his presidency was plagued with shortcomings and a handful of what could be considered flat out failures. The purpose of this writing is to establish and identify the ‘cons’ or failures of the Reagan administration, and provide a brief description of each different aspect of the administration.

Reagan implemented policies based on supply-side economics and advocated a classical liberal and laissez-faire philosophy, seeking to stimulate the economy with large, across-the-board tax cuts. Reagan’s outlook on economics was what he and the public called “Reaganomics”. “The blueprint for “Reaganomics,” was a sketched out supply-side approach to the economic, including massive cuts in income taxes, capital gains taxes, and corporate taxes,”(340). His platform advocated reducing tax rates to spur economic growth, controlling the money supply to reduce inflation, deregulation of the economy, and reducing government spending. Reagan's policies proposed that economic growth would occur when marginal tax rates were low enough to spur investment, which would then lead to increased economic growth, higher employment, and wages. Reagan’s beliefs on cutting taxes were supported by ideas of William Sumner who believed that the best equipped to win the struggle for existence was the American businessman, and concluded that taxes and regulations serve as dangers to his survival. Reagan believed strong nations were composed of people who were successful at expanding their empires and these strong nations would survive in the struggle for dominance.

Leading up to the year 1981, America had fallen into a period of “stagflation”, a portmanteau for ‘stagnant economy’ and ‘high inflation’. Characterized by high taxes, high unemployment, high interest rates, and low national spirit, America needed to look to something other than Keynesian economics to pull itself out of this low. During the election of 1980, Ronald Reagan’s campaign focused on a new stream of economic policy. His objective was to turn the economy into “a healthy, vigorous, growing economy [which would provide] equal opportunities for all Americans, with no barriers born of bigotry or discrimination.” Reagan’s policy, later known as ‘Reaganomics’, entailed a four-point plan which cut taxes, reduced government spending,

As President, Ronald Reagan encountered many significant events; from surviving an assassination attempt, to the space shuttle Challenger disaster. Perhaps the most significant event was the economic downturn. He came to office (much like President Obama) in the midst of an economic crisis; however, President Reagan was able to turn the economy around. How did he do this? In order to answer this question, you must first ask what the economy was like when he was sworn into office, how his policy changed from the prior administration’s policy, and how it contrasts our present economic policy.

After the flop of poor Carter’s presidency in the minds of American citizens, Ronald Reagan swooped in as a remarkable fixer-upper. With only one scandal to his name, Reagan’s legacy remains virtually un-marred. Still, Reagan’s economic policy left America in greater debt (although

This economic expansion and boost would occur through citizens who would spend the extra tax money on products and services in their geographical region or who would invest money into businesses in their area. The only problem for the government using this theory would be the initial revenues that the government would lose from the tax cuts. In theory the economic growth would eventually increase taxable incomes, this increase in taxable incomes should cause the governmental revenues to grow in the long run. With the idea of Reaganomics in mind President Reagan persuaded Congress to pass the Economic Recovery Tax Act, which is the first major step in his plan. This Tax Act called for a 25 percent tax cut that was implemented over a three-year period (David Mervin, 1990, 133-7). The only problem with this tax cut is the fact that it mainly benefited the upper - income taxpayers and large corporations. The reason that these groups were targeted is because there is more of a chance that they will invest their money in business programs that will promote economic growth. After this tax cut took effect the American people in the lower - income tax brackets were not pleased with the results. They seemed to be faced with an increase in their tax rates even though most of them were in the income categories below the national average. On the other end of the spectrum the people that were in the upper tax brackets were experiencing significant tax cuts. The