The matter of debt service is fairly unimportant, except as it may limit government spending. From my perspective, that was an advantage of the Clinton Era, enhanced by the Republican take over of Congress. More important is the prime interest rate. Under Reagan, it averaged 11.54. Under Clinton, it averaged 7.86. As I am sure you know, that means that the economic climate was more favorable for Clinton.
As for the cycle, part of the point is that there was a bigger mess inherited by Reagan. We were out of recession by the time Clinton came into office, and inflation had remained low throughout the terms of Reagan and Bush. The marginal rates had already been cut, and Clinton only raised them slightly. Tax simplification and deregulation had already made a lot of headway. It is arguable that the main cause of the (shallow) Bush recession was the dislocations produced by military build down, and that that gave Clinton money to play with, as resources moved from the military to other projects, so pressure to tax and spend was reduced. Generally, Clinton had it easier....... |
