Comment on U.S. homelessness surged 18 percent to record level, annual report says
jimbolauski@lemm.ee 1 week agoDeinstitutionslization started in the 70’s as well as modern homelessness. Peanut boy had high unemployment rates at 9% and insane interest rates 22%, no one could afford to buy a home in the 70s. Reagan managed to get unemployment down to 5% and interest rates to 6%.
Bongo_Stryker@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
Sure, you can make rhe case that the origin of the current homelessness crisis goes further back, but it is undeniable that Reagan accelerated the process beyond any other set of post war policies.
You can also point to some short term benefits from that administration but you don’t mention that Reagan (and the party of fiscal responsibility) increased the federal debt from $738 to $2.1 trillion, thus transforming the USA from the worlds largest creditor to the worlds largest debtor.
Since Reagan, many people who called themselves conservatives and those who called themselves liberals both embraced neoliberal policies, and some benefited a lot. The long term consequences we see are dissapearing middle class, ever increasing income inequality and record levels of homelessness.
It also seems like no particular person or party is really to blame, these are just the natural results of late stage capitalism, invisible hand of the market and all that.
jimbolauski@lemm.ee 1 week ago
The Reagan debt was mainly due to a compromise where democrats never held up their end of the deal. Spending cuts were to accompany the tax cuts at a later date but they never did. I suspect Reagan didn’t push hard for spending cuts as the economy was still recovering from Carter.
Further the house of representatives was controlled by the dems from 1957 to 1997, per the origination clause all spending bills must originate in the house. Much of your late stage capitolism rants were rooted in spending policies drafted by your liberal comrades.