Reagan's Economic Legacy A House of Cards Built on Broken Promises

When Reagan took office, the US economy was struggling under what was known as “stagflation” – high unemployment coupled with high levels of ... He squeezed inflation out of the economy and lowered taxes. High earners and small business owners prospered allowing them to spend more and ... He entered office in 1981 insisting that government deficits were too high, that taxes had to be cut, that spending had to shrink. His inaugural ... Reaganomics significantly stimulated economic growth, reduced unemployment, and curbed inflation in the US during the 1980s. Forty-two years ago, Ronald Reagan launched America into a great social, economic, and political experiment. BARRETT, GAMBLING wrrH HISTORY: RONALD REAGAN IN THE WHITE HOUSE 67 (1983). ... revolutionary impact of the Reagan economic program, needs to be specified. Many things that Ronald Reagan did were very important for this country, but Reaganomics had some major problems. For one thing, it created a ... Reagan's welfare reforms just made the poor poorer. When a three-year recession hit in 1980, six million more Americans fell into poverty. By ... Reagan's economic legacy is mixed. On the one hand, tax reduction and a tightening of interest rates by the Federal Reserve led to a record period of peacetime ... When Jimmy Carter handed over the presidency to Ronald Reagan, the double-digit inflation he had presided over for three years hurt the poor most of all.