Opposing Digits

Supply-Side economics was dubbed "Reaganomics" by the media. If you were for Reagan, that meant you were for it. If you were against Reagan, you were against it. That's as far as public understanding ever went.

Even today three decades later few people beyond economists familiar with macro-economic theory know what it is. Liberals think it means tax cuts for the rich and call it "trickle-down economics."

Libertarians believe it is a variant of Keynesian economics that fuels consumer spending with federal budget deficits. Conservatives believe it means leaving more money in the pockets of those who earn it. Other people think it means that tax cuts pay for themselves. President Reagan's vice president, George H.W. Bush, said it is "voodoo economics."

Supply-side economics is none of these things. It is a theoretical innovation in macro-economics.

# posted by madthumbs @ 11:18 AM