U Magazine, Winter 1986

Reaganomics: An assessment by Joe the barber As reported by Dr. RF. O'Neil

thought you were a Reagan s upporte r." " It's true," Joe confessed, " I did vote for him in 1980 because I liked the promise of Reaganomics." "Reaganomics?" I feigned ignorance of the term. " Yeah ," he explained, " supply side tax cuts, restoring incentive to work, save a nd invest. Stabilizing the growth in the money supply to curb infla tion . Reductions in federal spending and deregulating the American economy. In s hort. more money for me and who doesn't want more money? These all sounded like good ideas to me despite the reference to 'voodoo economics· by that Bush guy. Now, it's beginning to look like Bush was right." "Wait a minute, Joe," I re plied . "Have

As the new year begins, it is time for all professional economists to begin cranking out new forecasts. If you da re to call yourself an economist, it is expected of you. It always struck m e as odd that the same people who laugh at gypsy fortune tellers take seriously the forecasts of economists! With this in mind. I visited my most reliable source of inside information-Joe the barber. As I climbed into his chair, I noticed he was scowling more than usual so I quickly decided against a shave. "What do you think of the state of the world?" I asked, not wanting to waste a ny time. "The world is doing o.k. ; · h e responded . "It's the good old U.S. of A. that is in trouble." "What do you m ean? " I said. "I

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