USH Reagan & the 1980's

The American economy grew rapidly in the 1980s for several reasons, including lower taxes that spurred investment and spending, new technology that created new business opportunities, and

• increased income for the wealthiest Americans
• new methods of retailing that lowered prices
• new efforts to solve social problems
• sharp cuts in government spending

While liberals generally believe that the government should help disadvantaged Americans through social programs, many conservatives believe that social problems can be solved through

• government welfare programs
• limiting the power of big business.
• limiting the power of the wealthy
• religious faith and private efforts

President Reagan encouraged and promoted deregulation because he believed that

• government regulations were excessive and hurt the economy
• removing government regulations would increase the prices of goods and services
• free trade required effective regulation of major industries.
• the government must regulate key industries to maintain economic stability

Members of the new conservative coalition that had come together by the late 1970s were united by a common belief that

• American society had lost its way
• American society was moving in a positive direction
• the United States was stronger than ever before
• increased government spending was needed

In an approach to economic policy that came to be called “Reaganomics,” President Ronald Reagan sought to keep interest rates high while

• cutting spending to reduce the budget deficit
• increasing the amount of money in circulation
• borrowing heavily to build up the military
• asking Congress to pass a huge tax cut

The collapse of the Soviet Union’s economy that began in the late 1980s was caused by

• President Reagan’s policies of “trickle-down” economics
• Boris Yeltsin’s outlawing of the Communist Party in Russia
• revolutions in Eastern Europe and the destruction of the Berlin Wall.
• inefficient central planning and huge expenditures in the arms race

January 1991, the United Nations went to war in the Persian Gulf for what reason?

• Kuwait had threatened Saudi Arabia
• Iraq had invaded Kuwait
• Iraq had invaded Saudi Arabia
• Saudi Arabia had invaded Kuwait

President Reagan began a massive buildup of the U.S. military, in part because he believed that

• with a stronger military, the United States could defeat the Soviets in a nuclear war
• massive Soviet defense spending would cause the Communist system to collapse
• an arms race with the Soviets would reduce the likelihood of nuclear war
• massive defense spending would stimulate economic growth in the United States

Strategic Defense Initiative

• conservative movement founded by evangelical minister Jerry Falwell
• plan, nicknamed “Star Wars,” to develop weapons that could destroy incoming missiles
• policy of supporting guerilla groups fighting Communist or pro-Soviet governments

perestroika

• restructuring plan instituted by Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s to save the Soviet economy
• conservative movement founded by evangelical minister Jerry Falwell
• policy of supporting guerilla groups fighting Communist or pro-Soviet governments