Galbraith on U.S. Economy
Galbraith brilliantly expressed the folly of Ronald Reagan’s economic policies. On one point the damage can be seen by simple arithmetic: Reagan led the country to an increased national debt of $2 trillion, as the total debt went from approximately $1 trillion to $3 trillion in eight years. Today, the interest paid by our government on that $2 trillion at 7% is $140 billion per year! That $140 billion sucked out of the budget every year could have gone a long way toward solving the S&L; crisis, the toxic waste crisis, not to mention funding the Persian Gulf crisis.
What is truly sad is the fact that in Reagan’s second term the economy was booming, and there was no reason to run even a nickel of deficit. Reagan frequently accused the Democrats of advocating “tax tax, spend, spend.” I believe the policy he followed can best be described as “borrow, borrow, spend, spend.”
ALAN RADNITZ
Hacienda Heights
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