The Eighties: America in the Age of Reagan

The Reagan years were a time of change ranging from rapid technological advances to sweeping revisions of the tax code to the deregulation of major industries and to a renewal of the Cold War. The nation emerged from the decade completely transformed: the post–World War II liberalism that had shaped the nation for four decades had given way to the world of today. In The Eighties, John Ehrman tracks this transformation in the context of Ronald Reagan’s policies and convictions, and he examines the broader trends that enabled Reagan to achieve so much of his agenda. Please join us for a discussion of The Eighties with comments by William Niskanen, acting chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers during the Reagan administration.