Reaganomics: An Insider's Account of the Policies and the People
by William A. Niskanen
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"A comprehensive review of the Reagan administration's economic policies and their theoretical foundation."
--The Wall Street Journal
Publication Date: 1988
ISBN: 0-19-5053994-X
Number of Pages: 363
Hardcover
Categories: Economics, Government and Politics
This item is Out of Print.
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About the Book
Reaganomics was the most ambitious attempt to change the course of American economic policy since Franklin Roosevelt's administration. As a presidential candidate, Ronald Reagan promised to reduce the growth of federal spending, tax rates, regulation, and inflation and to promote free trade among nations. Yet his record of achieving those goals is decidedly mixed. In this lively, informative account William A. Niskanen, a distinguished economist and former top Reagan aide, tells why.
Niskanen was at the forefront of the Reagan administration's economic program -- as its supporter or internal critic and as a participant in or witness to many of the crucial decisions that shaped it. In this volume he recounts the debates over economic policy, assesses the impact of the administration's program on the budget, taxes, regulation, trade, and monetary growth, and describes the probable legacy of Reaganomics.
Although Niskanen notes the administration's successes in such areas as lowering tax rates and promoting the deregulation of a number of industries, he does not shrink from examining instances in which the Reagan vision of free markets and limited government went awry, such as the Commerce Department's often-mercantilist view of imports and the many politically motivated concessions on spending policy. In the course of providing candid portraits of the architects of Reaganomics, he describes the exchange of positions by Donald Regan and James Baker as "a mistake for all concerned" and portrays Edwin Meese as "the most conspicuously mediocre man in American public life." Published by Oxford University Press.
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About the Author
William A. Niskanen is chairman of the Cato Institute. From 1981 to 1985 he was a member of the president's Council of Economic Advisers.
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What Others Have Said
"A lucid analysis of Reagan's economics by that rare creature, an objective insider."
--Herbert Stein, Former Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers
"Few books manage that combination of sound economic judgment and an interest in personalities; it is a mixture that does not seem to come naturally. Reaganomics achieves it and then adds a rare perpectiveness about the machinery of government as a shaper of policy in its own right."
--The Economist
"An important book that analyzes, describes, and dissects the processes of government, the people in government, and the political pushes and pulls between the president and congressional leaders."
--Philadelphia Inquirer
"Niskanen observes [that Reagan] was a free marketer who added more trade restraints than were removed, a tax-cutter who left the federal tax right where it was under Carter."
--National Journal
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