Question

chapter 25 section 2 (pages 822-826)
conservative policies under reagan and bush

before you read
in the last section, you saw how conservative power grew before the presidential election of 1980.
in this section, you will read how president reagan put in place conservative policies.

as you read
use the chart below to take notes on the effects of reaganomics.

eaganomics\ takes over (pages 822-824)
what was reaganomics?
reagan tried to reduce the size and power of the federal government. he wanted to make deep cuts in government spending on social programs. he convinced congress to lower taxes. this approach was called reaganomics.
reaganomics depended on supply-side economics. this theory said that cutting taxes would motivate people to work, save, and invest. more investment would create more jobs. more workers would mean more taxpayers, which would cause government revenues to increase.
reagan also increased military spending. between 1981 and 1984, the defense department budget almost doubled. in 1983, reagan asked the countrys scientists to develop a defense system that would keep americans safe from enemy missiles. the system became known as the strategic defense initiative, or sdi.
the economy grew. interest rates and inflation rates dropped. government revenues, however, did not increase as much as reagan hoped. so the federal government ran up huge budget deficits.
during the reagan and bush years, the size of the government debt more than doubled. this meant that the united states had a larger national debt than any other nation in the world.
interest payments on this debt accounted for about 21 percent of the national budget. this limited the amount of money available for investment

Explanation:

Identify the core task

The worksheet asks to use the provided reading passage to fill in the blank boxes of the chart showing the effects of Reaganomics. One effect is already filled in: "Large budget deficits". We need to identify two other major economic effects of Reaganomics described in the text.

Analyze the reading passage

Using the Reagan Era knowledge point, we examine the text for consequences of Reagan's economic policies:

• "The economy grew."
• "Interest rates and inflation rates dropped."
• "Government revenues, however, did not increase as much as Reagan hoped."
• "During the Reagan and Bush years, the size of the government debt more than doubled."

Determine the missing chart effects

The chart has three boxes branching from "Reaganomics".

1. Box 1: "Large budget deficits" (already provided).
2. Box 2: Economic growth / lower inflation and interest rates.
3. Box 3: Doubling of the national debt.

We will formulate concise answers to complete the chart.

Answer:

Question 1

Use the chart below to take notes on the effects of Reaganomics.

• Effect 1: Large budget deficits
• Effect 2: <blank>Economic growth and lower inflation/interest rates</blank>
• Effect 3: <blank>The national debt more than doubled</blank>