Reagan

In 1980 I voted for independent candidate John Anderson. He was a republican who ran and lost to Reagan in the primaries. I didn't see Reagan as a successful Governor of California but a former actor and spokesman for GE. Carter was out with his stagflation so I was left with Anderson. During Reagan's first term he used a combination of tax cuts and deregulation to grow the economy and jobs. He promised three things. To cut taxes, to increase defense and balance the budget. He got the first two but failed on the third. His major accomplishment was that he convinced Gorbachev that the Soviets could not compete militarily and set he stage for the collapse of communism. Gorbachev realized that the central planning government could not compete with the free market economies of the west and three years after Reagan left office communism in the Soviet Union ended. Prior to the 1980's economist looked at two ways to grow the economy. They said you could prime the pump at the top and companies would expand and create new jobs or you could prime the pump at the bottom and consumers would buy more goods and expand the economy. These ideas worked after the war and up to the 1980's but then things changed and destroyed Reagan's concept of a rising tide lifts all boats. Companies discovered that it was more efficient to just buy an existing facility that to build new ones and priming at the top no longer worked. Companies came up with a whole new department called mergers and acquisitions and lifting all boats became trickle down economics and the rich gained while the poor suffered. During Reagan's years in office the working people prospered but in the long haul they lost.