Art Laffer is a master propagandist. He tells anyone who'll listen (and there are many) that the vaunted "supply-side" economics utilized during the Reagan era--of which he was the key architect--transformed the American economy from malaise to prosperity.
Yet the data show otherwise. His policies produced the second worst performance in real incomes over a 24 year period. Real earnings under Laffer's policies dropped 1.0%, second only to Jimmy Carter's abyssmal 7.6% decline. In contrast, real earnings for workers under Johnson, Nixon and Ford increased.
Laffer says the best savings account is a good, high-paying job. Too bad his policies came nowhere close to providing that.
It is interesting to note that under Reagan, the largest accumulated debt in history was generated.
ReplyDeleteEven though they supply sided the taxes and what not, they really created a massive debt unparallel in USA history.
So in the face of massive inflation in the early 80's, they credited the banks and "printed money" for the military and whatever floated the boat then.
And now in the face of massive deflation, the same thing will have to be done.
So they can talk supply side all they want, even they were really just crediting the mainframes to the banks.
Supply side is a smoke screen !!