November 4, 2012
If there are any American Presidents who will go down in history, they should be Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) and Barrack Obama (2008 – Present). They both assumed office at a time when America’s economy was slumping. The American electorate voted them in office with the hope that they would recover the economy. Sure enough they did keep their promise to the American electorate, but still amidst a few challenges. Their approach to recovering the economy appeared quite dissimilar. While Reagan concentrated on cutting taxes and removing economic growth bottlenecks, Obama on the other hand focused on raising …show more content…
Reagan was particularly beleaguered when unemployment rose to a staggering 9.5%. He dreaded that he would not be re-elected. Presidents Reagan’s goal was to execute economic policy dubbed ‘Reaganomics’. This policy aimed at stimulating America’s economy through tax credits, accelerated depreciation, and tax cuts. Reagan’s core catalyst to attain this goal was the enactment of the ERTA (Economic recovery Tax Act) in 1981. The ERTA brought in phased-in cuts in marginal duty levels that were extensive. ERTA, however, was a too far bridge and failed despondently creating huge budget deficits as well as weakening America’s economy. This resulted in an economic slump that lasted through the better part of 1982. Luckily, Reagan saw the fault, and with enactment of TEFRA (Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act) in late 1982. America’s economy embarked on a path to recovery. TEFRA acted as ERTA’s remedy. In fact, it came to be known as the most extensive peacetime tax rise to be ever enacted in the history of America. Ironically, Reagan, a Republican, had signed the bill. TEFRA began presumably the most considerable bull series in the economic history of America. This cycle lasted for close to half a decade. Reagan deserves much of the credit for endorsing TEFRA and particularly, for its great economic outcome. However, few people recognize that it was Peter Stark, a Democrat, who backed TEFRA. Worth noting is the fact that Reagan played a very instrumental role by joining forces with fellow Democrats. The TEFRA perhaps explains why Reagan was reelected for a second