Macroeconomics Paper
U.S. Productivity and Economic Growth during 1980s – 2000s
This class is macroeconomics, which is a part of economics that is the field of economics that studies the behavior of the aggregate economy. Macroeconomics examines economy-wide phenomena such as changes in unemployment, national income, rate of growth, gross domestic product, periods of inflation and price levels.
Many changes have occurred in the U.S. productivity and economic growth since the 1980s. There have been periods of recessions, inflation, and unemployment that have occurred in these decades. In this paper we will discuss the U.S productivity and economic growth of the economy for each decade. We will also discuss the GDP rate, the inflation rate, and the unemployment rate for each decade. Another important part of this discussion is how government policies affected the U.S. productivity and economic growth in each of these decades.
The recession that occurred in the early 1980s was one of the most severe and the most significant in terms of economic policy of the post-World War II recessions. Economists have considered this recession as “The Reagan Recession.”
President Reagan (1981-1989) based his economic program on the theory of supply-side economics, which advocated reducing tax rates so people could keep more of what they earned. In the early 1980s, while he was cutting taxes, Reagan was also slashing social programs. Reagan also undertook a campaign throughout his tenure to reduce or eliminate government regulations affecting the consumer, the workplace, and the environment. The combination of tax cuts and higher military spending overwhelmed more modest reductions in spending on domestic programs. As a result, the federal budget deficit swelled even beyond the levels it had reached during the recession of the early 1980s. From $74,000 million in 1980, the federal budget deficit rose to $221,000 million in 1986. It fell back to $150,000 million in 1987, but then
This class is macroeconomics, which is a part of economics that is the field of economics that studies the behavior of the aggregate economy. Macroeconomics examines economy-wide phenomena such as changes in unemployment, national income, rate of growth, gross domestic product, periods of inflation and price levels.
Many changes have occurred in the U.S. productivity and economic growth since the 1980s. There have been periods of recessions, inflation, and unemployment that have occurred in these decades. In this paper we will discuss the U.S productivity and economic growth of the economy for each decade. We will also discuss the GDP rate, the inflation rate, and the unemployment rate for each decade. Another important part of this discussion is how government policies affected the U.S. productivity and economic growth in each of these decades.
The recession that occurred in the early 1980s was one of the most severe and the most significant in terms of economic policy of the post-World War II recessions. Economists have considered this recession as “The Reagan Recession.”
President Reagan (1981-1989) based his economic program on the theory of supply-side economics, which advocated reducing tax rates so people could keep more of what they earned. In the early 1980s, while he was cutting taxes, Reagan was also slashing social programs. Reagan also undertook a campaign throughout his tenure to reduce or eliminate government regulations affecting the consumer, the workplace, and the environment. The combination of tax cuts and higher military spending overwhelmed more modest reductions in spending on domestic programs. As a result, the federal budget deficit swelled even beyond the levels it had reached during the recession of the early 1980s. From $74,000 million in 1980, the federal budget deficit rose to $221,000 million in 1986. It fell back to $150,000 million in 1987, but then
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