Politics and Economics in the Eighties
9780226012810
9780226012827
Politics and Economics in the Eighties
Is the federal budget deficit a result of congressional deadlocks, gross miscalculation of economic trends, or a Republican strategy to tie the budgetary hands of future Democratic leadership? To what extend does the partisan split between Congress and the executive branch constrain the president’s agenda? In this volume, political scientists and economists tackle these and many other contentious issues, offering a variety of analytical perspectives.
Certain to provoke controversy, this interdisciplinary volume brings together policy experts to provide a coherent analysis of the most important economic policy changes of the 1980s. Through a detailed examination of voting patterns, monetary and fiscal policies, welfare spending, tax reform, minimum wage legislation, the savings and loan collapse, and international trade policy, the authors explore how politics can influence the direction of economic policymaking.
Certain to provoke controversy, this interdisciplinary volume brings together policy experts to provide a coherent analysis of the most important economic policy changes of the 1980s. Through a detailed examination of voting patterns, monetary and fiscal policies, welfare spending, tax reform, minimum wage legislation, the savings and loan collapse, and international trade policy, the authors explore how politics can influence the direction of economic policymaking.
306 pages | 36 figures, 30 tables | 6 x 9 | © 1991
National Bureau of Economic Research Project Report
Economics and Business: Economics--Government Finance
Political Science: American Government and Politics
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Alberto Alesina and Geoffrey Carliner
1. Elections and the Economy in the 1980s: Short- and Long-Term Effects
Morris P. Fiorina
Comment: William D. Nordhaus
2. Leaning into the Wind or Ducking out of the Storm: U.S. Monetary Policy in the 1980s
James E. Alt
Comment: Benjamin M. Friedman
3. Party Governance and U.S. Budget Deficits: Divided Government and Fiscal Stalemate
Mathew D. McCubbins
Comment: Robert J. Barro
4. Changes in Welfare Policy in the 1980s
John A. Ferejohn
5. The Politics of Tax Reform in the 1980s
Charles H. Stewart III
Comment: David F. Bradford
6. Political Foundations of the Thrift Debacle
Thomas Romer and Barry R. Weingast
Comment: Robert E. Litan
7. The Spatial Mapping of Minimum Wage Legislation
Keith T. Poole and Howard Rosenthal
Comment: Charles Brown
8. U.S. Trade Policy-making in the Eighties
I. M. Destler
Comment: Anne O. Krueger
Contributors
Name Index
Subject Index
Introduction
Alberto Alesina and Geoffrey Carliner
1. Elections and the Economy in the 1980s: Short- and Long-Term Effects
Morris P. Fiorina
Comment: William D. Nordhaus
2. Leaning into the Wind or Ducking out of the Storm: U.S. Monetary Policy in the 1980s
James E. Alt
Comment: Benjamin M. Friedman
3. Party Governance and U.S. Budget Deficits: Divided Government and Fiscal Stalemate
Mathew D. McCubbins
Comment: Robert J. Barro
4. Changes in Welfare Policy in the 1980s
John A. Ferejohn
5. The Politics of Tax Reform in the 1980s
Charles H. Stewart III
Comment: David F. Bradford
6. Political Foundations of the Thrift Debacle
Thomas Romer and Barry R. Weingast
Comment: Robert E. Litan
7. The Spatial Mapping of Minimum Wage Legislation
Keith T. Poole and Howard Rosenthal
Comment: Charles Brown
8. U.S. Trade Policy-making in the Eighties
I. M. Destler
Comment: Anne O. Krueger
Contributors
Name Index
Subject Index