Deficit Government: Taxing and Spending in Modern America

by Iwan W. Morgan

Overview

Since the advent of the New Deal, unbalanced budgets have become an almost permanent feature of American government-enlightened economic policy to some, a scourge to others. In Deficit Government, Iwan Morgan makes understandable the main trends of budget policy from the Roosevelt to the Clinton presidencies, and surveys the political and partisan debates surrounding the budget during these years. While focusing on federal expenditure and tax policies, Mr. Morgan explains why budget deficits have become the norm in modern American history, what impact they have had on the economy, and why the size of the deficit has grown so vast in recent years. He evaluates the importance of the budget as an instrument of economic management, including the development of Keynesian fiscal policy and the emergence of conservative doctrines that culminated in the supply-side approaches of the Reagan era. In all, readers who find their eyes glazing over at the thought of reading about budget policy will find Mr. Morgan's refreshing clarity a revelation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781566630825
Publisher:	Dee, Ivan R. Publisher
Publication date:	04/01/1995
Series:	American Ways
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	223
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.14(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Iwan Morgan, who teaches American history at London Guildhall University, has also written Beyond the Liberal Consensus, America’s Century, and Eisenhower versus “The Spenders.”

Editorial Reviews

A well-written and useful book...concise and reliable.

Journal of Southern History

A well-written and useful book...concise and reliable.

Journal Of Southern History

A refreshing, clear eyed look at deficit spending from Roosevelt to Clinton.

Chicago Books in Review

Morgan has performed a valuable service...cogent and interesting...a surplus on its own merit.

Political Studies Quarterly

If timing is everything, Morgan’s Deficit Government has it made.

Journal of Economic History

With the economy likely to be the central problem facing Clinton and every president who succeeds him into the foreseeable future, this book on the history of modern budgetary politics could not have come at a better time. Morgan (history, London Guildhall Univ.) reviews the development of America's budgeting practices from the New Deal to the present, and he explains, in very clear language, how budget decisions influence our economy. Budget deficits have become the norm, with only eight instances of balanced budgets since 1933. But the real issue is not whether the budget is in balance but whether the imbalance has beneficial or harmful consequences. And it is on this theme that Morgan, as a neutral observer, provides his greatest service. Because budgets are as much political as economic statements, intepretations of them differ. What is clear from Morgan's analysis is that, despite many years of deficit budgets, the United States succeeded in controlling the negative effects except during the Reagan-Bush years. This fine short volume is recommended for political and economic collections.-Thomas Baldino, Wilkes Univ., Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Library Journal

Morgan (American history, London Guildhall U.) surveys the political and partisan debates surrounding budget policy from the Roosevelt to the Clinton presidencies, focusing on federal expenditure and tax policies, and explains the origins, impact, and growth of budget deficits. He addresses Democratic administrations' use of deficits to boost economic growth in the 1960s and conservative doctrines that culminated in the Reagan era supply-side approaches, and examines the competing demands of federal programs. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

If timing is everything, Morgan's Deficit Government has it made.

Journal Of Economic History

A well-written and useful book...concise and reliable.

The Journal of Southern History

A refreshing, clear eyed look at deficit spending from Roosevelt to Clinton.

Chicago Books In Review