'The Man Who Sold The World" timeline

Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America
- by William Kleinknecht

Events

Federal Trade Commission finds that 46% of land is owned by the 113 largest manufacturing corporations

1847

domestic steel companies running only at 40% capacity

1892

3 hundred thousand of their workers unemployed

Andrew Carnegie's steel company earned $23 million

1900

The McFadden Act

1927

The McFadden Act was aimed at preserving community banks by restricting the ability of financial institution to operate in multiple states

Unemployment levels reach 25%

1932

O'Neill elected to Massachusetts Legislature

1936

looks = knowledge at Warner Bros.

1941

Reagan brings Bob Hope and others to his movie premier

1941

Enormous Gains in Productivity

1948

another Reagan movie premier

1950

Keynesianism becomes popular among economists

1950

Nixon narrowly loses presidential election to Kennedy

1960

trade barriers lowered, dependency on Soviet Union for importation of American Grain

1960 - 1970

Great Society (The War on Poverty)

1963 - 1969

Head Start and Job Corps program

1966

Head Start = program for kids who live in poverty, gives the kids the opportunity to be brought up to grade level for when they enter Kindergarden

$20.6 billion spent on Vietnam War

1967

Nixon's use of TV and advertising influences election

1968

Economic Tarpor

1970 - 1979

farm income and commodity prices boom

1970 - 1979

Median income rises

1970

the rising income pushed many Americans into the tax brackets with graduated marginal rates

Reagan blames government regulation for America's Economic problems

1970

specifically government regulation and excessive spending on social programs

The Business Roundtable founded

1972

Enormous Gains in Productivity

1973

The Heritage Foundation founded

1973

OPEC attempts to punish the United States for supporting Israel by raising the price of oil by 70%

1974

price of oil rises from $1.80 a barrel to $11.65

1974

Gerald Ford Presidency

August 9, 1974 - January 20, 1977

Reagan’s primary against General Ford → in Dixon, Illinois

1976

Linda Taylor convicted of using two aliases to collect checks totaling 8000

1977

O'Neill chose as Speaker

1977

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

1977

made after corporations attempted to bribe foreign governments

Jimmy Carter Presidency

January 20, 1977 - January 20, 1981

Airline Deregulation Act

1978 - 1995

allowed new companies to enter the airline business and ended controls on fares, routes, and aircraft size

Federal Reserve Board tightens monetary reigns

1979

to conquer inflation

Food industry is one of the most profitable industries in America

1980 - 1989

GOP aired propaganda commercial against O'Neill

1980

Reagan administration recommends commission reduce their budges by 30%

1980

Reagan returns to his hometown (Dixon, Illinois) on the campaign trail

1980

Wall street executives back George W. Bush in Republican primaries

1980

NBC announces Reagan as the projected winner

November 1980

Farmers assets = $1050

1981

General Electric is a beneficiary of a corporate tax cut

1981

Reagan Presidency

1981 - 1989

Reagan unveils plan for big tax and budget cuts

1981

Reagan used his State of the Union address to unveil a fiscal plan that would eviscerate many social welfare programs

february 18th, 1981

O'Neill met with House Republican leader

March 1981

carpenters’s union has less below 50% employment

1982

Department of Heath proposes to put warnings on Asprin

1982

to warn that the consumption of the pills could lead to Reye's Syndrome

Reagan imposes restrictions on steel imports

1982

complained that Europe was unfairly aiding steel companies with public subsidies

Reagan proposed a 41.4 billion cut in the federal budget from programs for the poor

1982

federal tax receipts drop to an all time low of 6.2 percent

1983

Reagan closes the Dixon Developmental Center (Asylum)

1983

leaving thousands w/o jobs

Reagan drafts legislation to repeal Glass Steagall

1983

White House admits Valis had access to materials the Carter campaign was using to prepare for Reagan debate

1983

1984-Timothy Wirth and John Dingell support bill to require shareholder approval before companies can buy back their stock at premium

1984

Dixon business owners develop the Hometown Heritage Foundation

1984

John Shad speech to the Financial Writers Committee

1984

about corporate takeover

Reagan returns to Dixon when approaching re election

1984

Dixon schools on verge of financial collapse due to defunding (almost forced to shut down all athletics)

1985

The Farm Bill

1985

to boost agricultural exports, “deficiency payments” as compensation for farmers’ losses

voters approve property tax increase

1985

White House economic report features piece written by Joseph Grundfest

1985

Joseph Grundfest --> free - market economist
labeled corporate takeovers as a benefit to the economy.

highest pretax profit in a dozen years for Cargill

1986

Cargill = the largest agribusiness
Against having food programs in schools and having the government give money to the arts

numbers of mergers in America has tripled

1986

FCC ends fairness doctrine

1987

Northwest Airlines merges with Republic airlines

1987

Reagan "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall"

June 1987

Telecommunications Act

1996

promises more competition and diversity in media

The Council of Economic advisers raise the revenue limit to 25%

1996

created a loophole allowing commercial banks to exploit investment banking and security underwriting

Congress approves the Financial Services Modernization Act which repealed Glass Steagall

1999

Steel Loan Guarantee Act

1999

4 airlines control 2/3 of domestic market

2001

dealers refuse to ship companies scrap metal

2001

stock market crash eviscerates $8.5 trillion in market value

2001

devastates retirement account and cost hundreds of jobs

value of subprime mortgage increases from $190 Billion to $600 Billion

2001

4 of the 7 largest U.S. airlines were under federal bankruptcy protection

2005

Merrill Lynch announces a right off of $8.4 billion in failed credit and mortgage investment

2007

Merrill Lynch merges with the Bank of America

2008

Merrill Lynch reveals $14.1B writedown for investments linked to Subprime

01/17/2008