Review of "Choose Economic Freedom: Enduring Policy Lessons from the 1970s and 1980s," by George P. Schultz and John B, Taylor

 Review of

Choose Economic Freedom: Enduring Policy Lessons from the 1970s and 1980s, by George P. Schultz and John B, Taylor, ISBN 9780817923440

Four out of five stars

Good retrospective, but incomplete

 The basic premise of this book about economic policy of the United States government in the 1970s and 1980s is generally correct but misses some basic results. The retrospective begins with the actions of President Richard Nixon in the early 1970s. When the United States was experiencing rampant inflation in the early 1970s, Nixon first imposed a freeze on wages and prices and then followed with what was called Phase II that involved more restrictions. Other phases followed. George Schultz was an official of the Nixon administration at the time and was opposed to these actions.

 There is a back-and-forth debate between Nobel Prize-winning economists Milton Friedman and Robert Solow. It is very interesting to read about two economic heavyweights that so profoundly disagree about the use of wage and price controls. Friedman was opposed while Solow was in favor.

 The conclusions stated by the authors is that the Nixonian controls were a disaster for the economy, and it was only when Ronald Reagan was elected president that the problems were corrected. They give credit to Reagan for what they describe as decades of strong economic growth. They neglect the recession of 1990-1991, which was essentially inherited by the administration of George H. W. Bush from Ronald Reagan.

 There are two things that were not mentioned. The first is that the national debt went from $700 billion to $2.4 trillion in the 1980s. In other words, much of the economic growth in that decade was financed by deficit spending. The second point not mentioned is that the 1980s was the decade when income inequality really began to expand.

 Since the time of Reagan, deficits have tended to shrink under Democrat administrations and explode under Republican. Many people have said that one of the continuing legacies of Reagan is that he made massive deficit spending acceptable to Republicans.

 Given these two points not covered in this book that continue to reap economic havoc in the United States, one can legitimately question the main conclusion of the authors.

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