'Reaganomics'

It’s hard to see past Ronald Reagan’s presidency as the most influential variable in a decade which played host to a myriad of impactful cultural events.

More precisely; the President’s implementation of Milton Friedman’s monetarist theory which became the ‘supply-side economics’ now synonymous with Reagan’s tenure. The shift to a Neo-Liberal economy, championed by Reagan, not only initiated the consumerism of the 80’s itself (one might cite that as an iconic feature of the decade) but it also ushered in the trickle-down economic austerity which underpins much of the United States faltering capitalist agenda today. The pragmatic application of Friedman’s theory sees ‘profit’ from corporate tax cuts poorly distributed amongst the ‘investment class’ (another product of Reagan’s America) rather than recycled back into job creation and spending.

 ‘Reaganomics’ positively impacted the way Americans operated within their own economy, however, it can be claimed that such policies triggered negative effects which still plague the American economy to this day. No President has looked back, since Reagan, in terms of vastly inflated military spending and Congress were forced to de-regulate the loan and investment system (a step toward the 2008 crash) due, in part, to the glut of money left in the system by ‘Reaganomic’ policies.

In these events we see the remanence of an economic policy which not only drastically changed the 80’s but also continues to effect contemporary American society.