The Original Reagan Question
October 2008, by John Schmitt and Hye Jin Rho
Taking Reagan's question to voters in the final presidential debate in 1980 - "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?", our earlier report, The Reagan Question: Are You Better Off Now Than Eight Years Ago?, considered the period from 2000 to 2008. Now we take a brief look at the differences between 1976 to 1980. Overall, 12 out of the following 23 indicators were better in 1980 than in 1976, one indicator was the same, and 10 were worse.
Economic Indicator
|
1976 |
1980
|
| Unemployment rate |
7.7% |
 7.1%
|
| Inflation rate |
5.5% |
10.9% |
Job growth (preceding 4 years)
|
|
|
| Total nonfarm employment |
7.7% |
-1.1% |
| Private sector employment |
6.9% |
-1.5% |
| Manufacturing employment |
-0.8% |
2.9% |
| Employment rate (% of population) |
|
|
| All, age 16 and older |
56.8% |
59.2% |
| Men, age 16 and older |
72.0% |
72.0% |
| Women, age 16 and older |
43.2% |
47.7% |
Real wage growth (preceding 4 years)
|
-2.9% |
-2.2%
|
| Minimum wage (July 2008$) |
$7.89 |
$7.49
|
| Family income |
|
|
| Level (median, 2007$) |
$49,562 |
$50,366 |
Growth (preceding 4 years)
|
0.6% |
1.6%
|
| Poverty |
|
|
| Rate (% of population) |
11.8% |
13.0%
|
| People in poverty (millions) |
25.0 |
29.3
|
| Personal savings (% of disposable income)
|
9.4% |
10.0% |
| College tuition (average per year, 2006-07$) |
|
|
| Private four-year college |
$8,814 |
$8,480 |
| Public four-year college |
$2,145 |
$1,939 |
| Gasoline (gallon, July 2008$) |
$0.62 |
$1.27
|
GDP growth (preceding 4 years)
|
10.6% |
13.7%
|
Productivity growth (preceding 4 years)
|
7.8% |
2.3%
|
| Trade balance (% of GDP) |
-0.3% |
-0.7%
|
| Federal debt (% of GDP) |
34.5% |
32.6%
|
| Net Int'l Investment flows (% of GDP) |
9.1% |
13.1%
|
Notes: Health Care data was not available for these time periods.
 |
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Second, just because the price of education goes down doesn't mean that's a good thing. Think about it.
Finally, to weight all these things equally is ludicrous. When inflation is that high, who cares if the unemployment rate is 0.6% lower? I mean, you guys are really giving the wrong idea here. Shockingly bad post.