Domestic+Policy




1980's Domestic Policy President: James Earl Carter Jr. & Ronald W. Reagan Vice President: Walter F. Mondale & George Bush Population: 229,465,714 Life Expectancy: 74.1 years

Dow-Jones High: 1024 Low: 824 Federal spending: $678.25 billion Federal debt: $994.8 billion Inflation: 10.2% Consumer Price Index: 90.9 Unemployment: 7.1% ** Major Events with Ronald Reagan ** The sixteenth amendment, the amendment that legalized income tax, was generally accepted because it was a progressive tax. As the taxpayer's earnings increased the tax they paid increased also. The tax reform of 1986 extended the range of progressive tax rates from 14 percent up to 70 percent. The 1986 law drastically simplified tax rates: only three tax brackets were in use. However, the way the act worked, people with incomes of more than $175,000 paid less in taxes than people with incomes of less than $175,000.
 * 1986 ** - Tax Reform Act

On October 19, 1987, the stock market had the worst price collapse since 1929. The Brady Commission Report released a year later stated that the immediate fall in stocks was due to the use of computerized program trading in stocks by large investors. Howver, by 1988 the United States was showing signes of a growing economy.
 * 1987 ** - Stock Market Crash

When Mikhail Gorbachev took over the reigns of power in the U.S.S.R. in 1985, he began a program of westernization. Through perestroika and glasnost he started to rebuild the Soviet Union. He also showed signs of stopping the spread of Communism. President Reagan explored the opportunities of peace with the Soviets and President Bush continued this policy.
 * 1988 ** - Thawing of the Cold War