Pag* 4
Letter to
the editor
This letter is in response to
John Rossomando’s column
(3/3/94) concerning
Reaganomics.
The U.S. economy did grow
rapidly under Reagan, but Mr.
Rossomando failed to fully
explain the reasons for the
growth. Reagan’s tax decrease
was part of the Republican
“supply side” strategy.
Republicans assumed that taxes
were in the “prohibitive’’ range of
the Laffer curve and that,
consequently, a tax decease would
actually increase government
revenue. Government revenue
fell. As a good supply sider,
Reagan should have promptly
raised taxes in an attempt to reach
the optimal level. He didn’t.
In reality, Reagan was
practicing Keynesian economic
theory (that evil theory associated
with Democrats). The tax
decrease, combined with massive
increases in defense spending,
resulted in Keynesian deficit
spending. This is what really
caused the economic growth of
the ‘Bos. The only difference is
that Reagan incurred deficits that
were gargantuan compared to
“Liberals" like FDR and LBJ
with their “New Deal” and “Great
Society” programs. GNP may
have doubled in the ‘Bos, but the
cost was a national debt that went
from 1 trillion to 2 trillion
dollars. Under Reaganomics the
U.S. went from the world’s
largest creditor to the world’s
largest debtor nation, forced to
■■■
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beg for money to finance our
debt
Futhermore, Reagan may have
talked about reducing deficits, but
his actions didn’t show it.
Budget deficits did decrease from
1987-1989 as Mr. Rossomando
points out but this was due to a
sell off of government assets
which increased short term gains
but decreased revenue, and
therefore increased the national
debt in the long run. Also,
Reagan may have proposed a
balanced budget amendment but
Good King Ron NEVER ONCE
SUBMITTED A BALANCED
BUDGET TO CONGRESS
DURING HIS EIGHT YEARS
IN OFFICE!
The real Reagan record is one
of skyrocketing debt It should
be noted that the last budget
surplus occurred in 1969 due to a
surtax implemented during
President Johnson’s (a Democrat)
last year in office. This is not to
say that Republicans deserve all
the blame. Some Democrats,
mostly southern, also supported
Reaganomics, but the majority of
those “evil” Democrats wanted
tax increases which would have
decreased the debt. Reaganomics
led to one hell of a party in the
1980 s, but the American public
will be paying the bills for many
years to come.
James D. Ruhlman
Bth Semester
Political Science
7, H
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