What is the definitive book to read about Reagan and Reaganomics?

[cui bono]

Thanks. :)

[Davis_X_Machina]

1. Try and find...

...Paul Krugman's "Peddling Prosperity: Economic Sense and Nonsense in the Age of Diminished Expectations", or Kevin Phillips' "The Politics of Rich and Poor: Wealth and the American Electorate in the Reagan Aftermath"

[wryter2000]

3. Another Phllips book is great

Thanks for mentioning him. I think it's Politics and Wealth. Shows you how the government has created wealth since before the revolution. Difficult book to absorb, but highly informative.

[followthemoney]

8. Got it from the library. Bought it after I read it. Excellent book. nt

[wryter2000]

2. Not THE definitive book

David Stockman's old book something like The Triumph of Politics: Why the Reagan Revolution Failed.

Stockman was one of the truly dellusional supply-siders, and he's hardly sympathetic. Plus, he blames the failure on not being cruel enough economically. Still, it's very informative to read. You have to buy it used. I recommend www.abebooks.com.

Stockman says flat out he wanted to return to the Robber Baron era, only he called it "the great fortunes of the 19th Century."

[rateyes]

4. Not THE definitive book, but a very good one...

critical of Reagnomics, and written by a friend of Reagan's

"Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions" by Clyde Prestowitz

[Amy6627]

5. Thom Hartmann recommends Sleep Walker Through History - can't rember author. n/t

[cui bono]

7. Found it. It's actually Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years

by Haynes Johnson

Sounds good, thanks.

[ramapo]

11. Great book

Just reading it now...tough to relive those times though

[cui bono]

6. Thanks everyone...

:toast:

[davekriss]

9. A good book on Reagonomics was...

Benjamin Friedman, Day of Reckoning: The Consequences of American Economic Policy Under Reagan and After, (1988).

I also found two books by Kevin Phillips useful, Boiling Point: Democrats, Republicans, and the Decline of Middle Class Prosperity, (1993), which takes us to the end of the GHWB administration, and The Politics of Rich and Poor: Wealth and the American Electorate in the Reagan Aftermath, (1990).

Another book chronicaling the economic times that I found interesting was Wallace Peterson's Silent Depression: The Fate of the American Dream (1994).

Of these, I found Benjamin Friedman's book most valuable.

[pscot]

10. The Predator's Ball, by Connie Bruck

Not about Reagan per se, it chronicles the rise and fall of Mike Milken,, the junk bond king, who symbolized the greed-is-good, get-it-while-you-can attitude that sprang up under Reagan and still prevails to this day. It's also a great read; fast-paced, entertaining and no longer than it needs to be. Filled with high rollers and deal makers. Good stuff.