Reagan won the Cold War, set us on the path to prosperity, and revived the American spirit after the malaise of the 70s.
You may not remember, but the liberal establishment was predicting heightened tensions with the Soviet Union, as a result of Reagan's posture. Instead, we got Gorbachev, glasnost, perestroika, and the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Those of us who supported Reagan knew we would come out ahead for having more aggressively pursued strategic and ideological competition, and we were right with a vengeance.
The imperative of altering the Cold War dynamic took precedence over budget balancing, as did the necessity of reducing disincentives and drags on the economy. The Carter Recession squeezed out inflation, and it has not yet returned, after more than 15 years. Growth was robust from about 83 to 95, with a minor recession, consequent upon dislocations in defense industries, in 92. After 95, growth took off, as a result of the digital and telecommunications revolutions.
Deficits were high, but we were not close to bankruptcy. For one thing, the debt remained pretty stable as a percentage of GDP, and debt service has been less than 20% of the budget over this period. We could carry it quite comfortably, and had time to work on deficit reduction.
If there was any evidence of Alzheimer's at all during his second term, it would have been trivial, in occasionally forgetting something. I do not believe that there was onset that early.
Well, I suppose that is enough for the moment........ |
