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Reagan's Ambiguous Economic Legacy1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2012

Abstract

The introductory piece attempts to set forth as objectively as possible the economic legacy of the Reagan Administration, with emphasis on its international aspects, and thereby to provide the background for the other articles. Gilpin charts the shift in the 1980s from a supply-side, laissez-faire style policy to one that acknowledges a need for cooperation between the United States and its economic partners. While this has been a responsible and productive change, it has also generated ambiguity as to what the U.S. stance on economic international activity should be.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs 1988

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Footnotes

1

This article is adapted from Robert Gilpin's most recent book, The Political Economy of International Relations (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987).

References

2 According to the report of the task force established by President Reagan to investigate the causes of the crash (Brady Report), it began as a response to the high trade deficit and political developments which, in turn, triggered the computer-driven programs of the large institutional investors. The New York Times, January 9, 1988, p. 1Google Scholar.

3 Although written before the stock market crash and therefore somewhat dated, the present author's analysis of many of these issues is contained in “American Policy in the Post-Reagan Era,”Daedalus (Summer 1987) pp. 3367Google Scholar.

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