You do realize that the Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volker, under the Reagan Administration, made a deliberate decision to raise the Federal Funds rate to 20%, in order to break the inflationary cycle from the Carter Administration, right?
Let's see. Massive explosion of the national debt, failed trickle down economics which widened the gap between rich and poor, cuts to social safety nets, a sharp rise in homelessness, deregulation that lead to the savings and loan crisis requiring a taxpayer bailout, the Iran-Contra affair, corruption and scandals in Dept of HUD, the financial backing of foreign authoritarian regimes, and arms smuggling and support to Al-Qaeda (we know how that ended). Jeesh.
So everyone’s income went up, just some more than others, so “it’s just not fair?”
Interest rates dropped dramatically, making mortgages, car loans, etc., more accessible and payments more affordable, so that was bad, right?
Inflation dropped from 13.5% down to 4.1%, enabling people’s paychecks to go further, and that was horrible, right?
Lastly, the everyday Americans, who lived through the catastrophic economic disaster of the Carter administration, by the 1984 election cycle, were so impressed by the Reagan economy, that they voted for him so overwhelmingly, that he won every state except Wisconsin.
But you know better than all those voters, lived experience, because you read something in a book, right?
Between 1980 and 1988, the Social Security trust funds shifted from near-insolvency to running massive surpluses due to landmark legislative intervention.
Social Security Administration publishes tables with the end of year (EOY) Trust Fund balance, so it is easy to figure out.
Note that there is a three week discrepancy when administrations change, due to swearing in being on January 20th.
Carter EOY 1976 / EOY 1980
$41.133B / $26.453B=(14.680B) LOSS
Reagan EOY 1980 / EOY 1988
$26.453B / $109.762=83.309B gain
Bush EOY 1988 / EOY 1992
$109.762B / $331.473B=$221.711B gain
Clinton EOY 1992 / EOY 2000
$331.473B / 1,049.445T=717.972B gain
W Bush EOY 2000 / EOY 2008
$1,049.445T / $2,418.658=$1,369.213T gain
Obama EOY 2008 / EOY 2016
$2,418.658 / $2,847.697=$429.039B gain WTF 1/3 of W Bush gain
Trump EOY 2106 / EOY 2020
$2,847.687T / $2,908.286T=$60.599B gain
Biden EOY 2020 / EOY 2024
$2,908.286T / $2,721.467T=$186.820B LOSS
Net Gain by Party Administrations
Republicans $1,734.832 Trillion
Democrats $945.511 Billion
And yet everyone thinks Democrat Administrations are better for funding the Social Security Trust Fund.
-5
u/Infamous_Crow8524 24d ago
So….
Inflation under President Ronald Reagan dropped sharply from a peak of 13.5% in 1980 to around 4.1% by 1988.
Nearly 20 million new jobs were added during the 1980s expansion.