Meanwhile, unprecedented greed was unleashed on Wall Street, fraying old-fashioned bonds between company owners and employees.
Before Reagan, corporate CEOs earned less than 50 times the salary of an average worker. By the end of the Reagan-Bush-I administrations in 1993, the average CEO salary was more than 100 times that of a typical worker. (At the end of the Bush-II administration, that CEO-salary figure was more than 250 times that of an average worker.)
What about that report on the current financial crisis? Parry sums up its findings:
The majority report of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission blamed the banking crisis, in part, on "30 years of deregulation and reliance on self-regulation." (Not surprisingly, the four Republicans on the commission refused to sign on, seeking to lay greater blame on government policies for encouraging home ownership.)
How powerful is the Reagan myth? He encouraged many whites to essentially slit their own economic throats--and they did it. Many are still doing it, and they continue to shy away from the truth about Reagan? Will they soon come to their senses? Probably not, writes Parry:
Republicans continue to enforce the notion that Reagan is an untouchable icon, that his memory and his policies must be revered. After the GOP gained control of Congress in 1994, the party rushed to name as many public sites after Reagan as possible, seeking to elevate their hero to the stature of martyred leaders like John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. . . .
It may take many more years before a mainstream politician or a journalist who cares about future employment dares speak truthfully about Reagan and the grievous harm that his presidency inflicted on the American Republic and the people of the Earth.
Where have 30 years of Reaganism left us? Robert Reich sums it up:
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