Roger gave me an opening for SHAMELESS self-promotion --- I was in England from April through August of1980, and I visited with many old friends from my undergraduate days at Cambridge University's economics department --- There, I got the idea to study the rise of right-wing economics (I didn't know enough to call it neo-liberalism at the time) represented by Thatcher in Britain and the push to cut taxes on the rich and regulations in the US (this was before Reagan got nominated and elected). Back home in the US, I watched Reagan get elected and was fascinated by the "substance" (there was no substance, just bullshit) of the Reagan economic program --- Within a year, I was hooked on figuring out what exactly the Reagan policy proposals were and why such bullshit was "beating out" the Keynesian-neoclassial synthesis that had been taught in most textbooks since Samuelson hit the jackpot in 1949 ---
8 years of teaching and studying about Reaganomics led to my book SURRENDER, HOW THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION COMPLETED THE REAGAN REVOLUTION --- it's both a debunking of the "seriousness" of Reagan's "programs" and an attempt at anlayzing how Clinton basically surrendered to it (with an embrace of neo-liberalism --- especially the demonization of federal budget deficits) --- the intellectual surrender of the goddam economics profession was disgusting --- The book is now available for free on line and though it stops in 1998 I did do some follow up research to take the story up to 2009 --- (Howard SHerman's and my macroeconomic textbook has a chapter on the failure of Obama's economic recovery program but that isnt free) The abandonment of the US (pitiful) version of social democratic policy (the welfare - warfare state of military Keynesianism) beginning in the 1970s is unfortunately the result in large part of the weakening of the (even reactionary) US labor movement .... One would hope that with decades of a virtual wage freeze imposed on US workers since 1979 or so --- coupled with the outrageous increases in inequality (culminating in very unequal death tolls from the pandemic) will awaken the sleeping giant that is the US working class --- Right now, at least within the white working class, the appeal of right-wing populism seems stronger --- but perhaps it can change --- there was a big move towards black-white unity during the CIO organiziing drives in the 1930s --- and some of that carried over all the way to the 1960s .... So one can always hope --- On Sat, Nov 14, 2020 at 9:52 AM Roger Kulp <[email protected]> wrote: > I don't know if this documentary fully addresses what Reagan's legacy has > been ,but I do not believe any analysis of Reagan should include a > discussion of how Reagan was instrumental ,in pushing the Democratic Party > further to the right,and cementing neoliberalism as the main trajectory of > US politics and policy ,at home and abroad. I am well aware of how > neoliberalism began under the Carter Administration ,but there was still a > strong enough of an element of old school New Deal/Great Society liberalism > in the Democratic Party ,in the 1980s ,to provide a sort of counterbalance. > That didn't last for long. The reactionary rise of Clinton/Gore, and their > "New Democrats" was a direct response to Reaganism. a Reagan > Administration. > > > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#3523): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/3523 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/78221256/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
