From Reagan to Clinton Flashcards

Vocabulary terms and historical concepts covering U.S. economic and political shifts from the Reagan administration through the Clinton era.

FIRE

An acronym representing the Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate industries, which saw a relative increase in their share of U.S. employment from 1950 to 2001.

Neoliberalism

An era and policy framework characterized by tax cuts for the wealthy, the reduction of the social welfare state, and growing economic inequality.

Net productivity

The growth of output of goods and services minus depreciation per hour worked.

Productivity-Pay Disconnect

The gap observed between 1973 and 2014 where productivity grew by $72.2\%$ while hourly compensation grew only $9.2\%$, compared to the 1948–1973 period where productivity and compensation grew nearly in tandem ($96.7\%$ and $91.3\%$ respectively).

Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981

A Reagan-era tax law that dropped the top tax rate from $70\%$ to $50\%$.

PATCO Strike (August 1981)

A strike by $13,000$ air traffic controllers who were fired and blacklisted by Reagan, symbolizing an employer assault on workers.

Volcker Shock

An effort to stabilize inflation via high interest rates which resulted in high unemployment and deindustrialization.

CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act)

A program dismantled by Reagan that, at its height, provided $750,000$ public service jobs, including roles in home weatherization and jazz appreciation.

Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984

Legislation that eradicated parole and implemented new lengthy sentences.

Anti-Drug Abuse Acts (1986 and 1988)

Laws that increased drug penalties and established a sentencing disparity between crack and cocaine.

Boland Amendment

Legislative acts passed in 1982 and 1984 that restricted CIA and Pentagon funding for counterinsurgent forces, known as 'contras,' in Nicaragua.

Iran-Contra

A scandal involving the U.S. government selling weapons to Iran and routing the funds to the 'contras' in Nicaragua, bypassing Congressional restrictions.

Glasnost

A Soviet policy of political openness introduced during Reagan's second term.

Perestroika

A Soviet policy of economic reform introduced during the late Cold War era.

NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)

A 1993 agreement signed during the Clinton administration that promoted free trade across North America.

1994 Crime Bill

Legislation during the Clinton era that solidified mass incarceration as a bipartisan project and expanded mandatory minimum sentences.

1996 Welfare Reform

Clinton-era legislation that ended welfare as an entitlement.

World Treaty Organization (WTO) protests

A 1999 rebellion in Seattle against corporate globalization.