Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois. Reagan was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th President of the United States from 1981-1989. His time in office saw a restoration of prosperity at home, with a goal of achieving peace through strength abroad. Ronald Wilson Reagan was born to Nelle and John Reagan. He went to a nearby high school in Dixon, Illinois. He then worked his way through Eureka College where he studied Economics and Sociology, played on the football team, and acted in school plays. Once he graduated, he became a radio sports announcer. An acting test in 1937 won him a contract in Hollywood. During his next 20 years appeared in 53 films. His first marriage …show more content…
To combat the recession, Reagan cut income taxes from 70% to 28% for the top tax bracket. He cut corporate tax rates from 48% to 34%. He promised to slow the growth of government spending. While he did this, he was also encouraging the Federal Reserve to combat inflation by reducing the money supply. In 1981, congress cut the top tax rate from 70% to 50%. It helped spur growth in gross domestic product for the next several years. The economy grew 4.6% in 1983, 7.3% in 1984, and 4.2% in 1985. This economic growth reduced national unemployment for the next several years. The minimum wage was $3.35 an hour in 1981. In December 1982, the unemployment rate rose to 10.8%. It fell to 8.3% in 1983, 7.3% in 1984, and 7.0% in 1985. Reagan cut the tax rate again to 38.5% in 1986. Reagan’s economic policies are called Reaganomics. He based his policies on the theory of supply side economics. The theory states that tax cuts encourage economic expansion enough to broaden the tax base over time. The increased revenue from a stronger economy is supposed to offset the initial revenue loss from the tax cuts. But according to the Laffer Curve, this only works if the initial tax rates are high enough. High taxes fall in the curve’s Prohibitive Range.” Reagan’s first tax cuts weren’t because tax rates where so high. In 1986 and 1987 tax cuts weren’t as effective, because tax rates were already reasonable. Also, Reagan offset the tax cuts with tax increases elsewhere. He raised social security payroll taxes and some excise taxes. He also cut several deductions. Reagan cut the corporate tax rate from 46% to 40%. But the effect of this break was unclear. Reagan changed the tax treatment of many new investments. The complexity meant that the overall results of his corporate tax changes couldn’t be