The Shift To Pro-Business Ideology In The 1980s

The Shift to Pro-business Ideology in the 1980s

The 1970s was a rough time for the United States of America from an economic perspective. “During the 1970s, the long period of postwar economic expansion and consumer prosperity came to an end, succeeded by slow growth and high inflation” (Foner, 816). The economy was beginning to crumble, leading to a shift in American politics. Without businesses, there was no way to get the economy back to where it needed to be. Therefore President Jimmy Carter switched his focus to pro-business policies in an effort to put the country back together.

The key reason for the switch towards pro-business ideology in the 1980s is America’s growing dependence on foreign goods. A natural consequence of the growth

This left the price of oil to the will of these countries, who chose to tax the United States more due to their previous interactions with the country (Kosc, Jimmy Carter). So, the United States is now paying foreign countries large sums of money for oil they desperately need. To try and get this issue under control, the United States began to import more fuel efficient vehicles. This however also failed to be super effective because the country is now importing vehicles, putting their car factories out of business. The act of importing foreign cars leads to some deindustrialization because these cars are now being sold at a high rate as well. Continuing on the topic of America’s imports, the country experienced a merchandise trade deficit in 1971 (Foner, 816). The country was importing more goods than it was exporting. This can also

continued to face an economic crisis that led to President Carter’s focus on helping businesses. The 1970s was a period of stagflation (Kosc, Jimmy Carter). The World Economic Forum defines stagflation as “a period when slow economic growth and joblessness coincide with rising inflation” (Detrixhe). The country was facing a crisis in urban areas at the time due to large numbers of citizens moving to suburbs. When these people moved, they took their tax money with them, which caused city services to rapidly decline (Kosc, Jimmy Carter). As city services declined, unemployment rose. Another event that led to unemployment rising was the nuclear accident in Pennsylvania at the Three Mile Island plant. After the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, the once booming nuclear industry came to a screeching halt (Foner, 823). This was a huge problem because the use of nuclear energy was meant to help reduce the country’s need for foreign oil (Foner, 823). This is yet another event that leads to both deindustrialization and the unemployment rate rising. This simply reiterates the fact that the United States was going through a labor crisis alongside their economic struggles. Businesses cease to flourish without labor to keep them afloat. Therefore, Carter’s logic made sense: by helping the businesses, they would be able to find more laborers, then they could contribute to the