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The Rise of Reaganomics - Deregulation
One of the things that motivated the rise of reaganomics was the undoing of New Deal era regulations. The Carter Administration deregulated the airline, trucking, and finance industries - paving the way for supply-side economics made popular during the Reagan Era. This occurred through the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, Motor Carrier Act of 1980, and the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980. -
The Rise of Reaganomics - Energy Crisis of 1979 and Stagflation
Another significant factor in that led to end of the New Deal Era and beginning of the Reagan Era, was the Energy Crisis of 1979. This happened due to the Islamic Revolution in Iran, which led to a rise in the price of oil and resulted in inflation and low growth. A phenomenon known as "stagflation." -
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Time - The Reagan Era
The "Reagan Era" describes not just the specific years Ronald Reagan was president but also long-term policy shifts that continued with subsequent presidencies. This is why some argue that the "Reagan Era" began at the end of Jimmy Carter's presidency in 1979 and continues through to today with Joe Biden's presidency. -
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The Fall of the Soviet Union - Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
One of the major changes during the Reagan Era was the fall of the Soviet Union. A symptom of that event was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The invasion proved to be a costly proxy war against the American-backed Mujahedeen - which pushed the Soviet economy to the brink of collapse. -
Evidence: The Malaise Speech
On July 7th, 1979, President Carter delivered the "Crisis of Confidence" Speech, more popularly known as the "Malaise Speech." In the speech, President Carter, addressed the economic woes Americans were experiencing under his leadership. To many, the speech validated the concern that America was stagnating. -
Evidence: Vision of America Speech
On the eve of the 1980 Presidential Election, Ronald Reagan delivered the "Vision of America Speech" - which outlines his belief that America's best days are ahead. The speech contains the seeds of economic policy in the Reagan Era espousing deregulation and skepticism towards American bureaucracy that would become a central element of Reaganomics. -
The Rise of Reaganomics - Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981
Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 - The foundations laid by earlier deregulation and stagflation leads to the first major piece of legislation implementing Reagan's economic vision, Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981. This legislation sees estate taxes, capital gains taxes, corporate taxes, and top marginal tax rates reduced. -
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The Fall of the Soviet Union - Perestroika and Glasnost
Some of the symptoms of the Fall of the Soviet Union included the implementation of market and social reforms called Perestroika and Glasnost. Perestroika was intended to restructure the Soviet economy and make it more efficient while glasnost was aimed at encouraging freer speech and making Soviet institutions more transparent. However, these reforms ended up stoking tensions and exacerbating differences between the constituent republics. -
Account: James Baldwin's View of Reagan
James Baldwin, a prolific Black writer, offered a dismal account of Ronald's Reagan's presidency. He said "Ronald Reagan represent[ed] the justification of their history, their sense of innocence … the justification, in short, of being white." Baldwin's view of Reagan was reflected among many Black Americans, who did not view his leadership as anything but a setback to the civil rights movement. -
Fall of the Berlin Wall (Empathy)
The physical breakdown of the Berlin Wall symbolically marked the end of the Cold War. For Berliners, it meant the beginning of an optimistic new age of new opportunity. For Americans, it represented the global victory of capitalism over communism. -
Repeal of Glass-Steagall (Empathy)
Glass-Steagall was regulation put in place during the New Deal which separated commercial and investment banking. Though the regulation was repealed in 1991, during the Clinton Administration, it represents the same sentiment brought about during the Reagan Administration - that excessive regulation hampered growth of the economy. -
Account - Excerpt from Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope
In Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope, he gives a rather rosy recollection of Reagan's presidency, saying "The conservative revolution that Reagan helped usher in gained traction because Reagan's central insight — that the liberal welfare state had grown complacent and overly bureaucratic, with Democratic policymakers more obsessed with slicing the economic pie than with growing the pie — contained a good deal of truth."
