Ronald and Donald
In Lips don’t lie I alluded to Bush Sr.’s famous words. Let me now compare real facts on Trump with Reagan, who also popped up in the media... And as in my last post, the two pictures above speak volumes! But more interestingly perhaps, the Ben Franklin-like table highlights some key similarities and differences between those, who proved historic for such different reasons.
Only time will tell of course what legacy will follow, but it behoves us to know as much as we can and be informed, regardless of our own feelings at any time.
Reaganomics didn’t suit everyone in the US, nor did Thatcherism in the UK. But the reality was that post-WWII economic wealth was waning, and expensive liberal / democratic politics became unsustainable. The Carter era stagflation immediately before Reagan lead to supply-side economics to boost the economy. Thatcher ushered in necessary restructuring of public sector like coal and railways, to enormous social cost because the Wilson era state-driven economics ushered in post WWII were no longer affordable. Likewise Communism fell through popular action driven by failing economies.
And today is phase two of those large restructurings, as the underpinnings like oil price and affordability of social care questioned in the US and the UK. Where things diverge however is international politics. While Reagan, Thatcher and May are gung-ho on free trade to climb out of the recession, Trump seems to revert to the other Wilson era pre-WWII protectionism. And while global dynamics have changed with Asia the economic counterweight, Putin’s Russia is trying to regain its Soviet-era pre-eminence. Watch this space.
Addendum: I found this video on Facebook with Bush Sr. & Reagan debating in 1980 the Mexican fence and illegal aliens, quite a flashback indeed:
