Facts from the 1980s
compiled by Jonathan
under the malaise days of Jimmy Carter:
- 21% interest rates
- 14% inflation
- gasoline lines
- double digit stagflation
- poorest 5th of Americans had a drop of 17% in real family income
- America not recognized as a "real power"
- Americans taken hostage by Iran
During the Reagan/Bush Eighties:
- American hostages freed
- 96 uninterrupted months of economic growth without inflation
- 20 million new jobs were created
82% of which were in the high-skilled, high-paying occupations
- average real family income grew well over 15% from 1982-1989
- poorest 5th of Americans, real income grew by almost 12%
- families earning $50,000+, went from 25% of population to 31% in 1990
- the percentage of families earning less than $15,000 a year fell
- of those who were in the bottom 5th income bracket in 1979, 65% jumped at
least 2 income brackets during the 1980s
- taxpayers were 5 times more likely to increase their income, than to have it fall
- families with income between $10,000 & $50,000 a year experienced a higher
percentage of growth in net worth than those in the top 1/5 income group
- the top 1% paid more than 25% of all federal income taxes in 1990, a 40%
increase over 1980
- the bottom 60% paid 11% of federal taxes in 1990- 20% less than in 1980
- the black middle class grew from 2.6 million households with incomes of $25,000+ in 1979 to 3.9 million in 1989
- from 1983-1989 population under the poverty line decreased by 3.9 million people
- the proverbial index took a nose-dive
- federal spending on the poor increased
- from 1978-1982 the number of poor black increased by 2 million, from 1982-
1989, that number decreased by over 400,000
- charitable contributions greatly increased
- between 1982 & 1989 real after-tax income per person rose by 15.8%
- real median income of families, before taxes, went up 12.5%
- federal spending on poverty programs increased from $1.4 billion in 1982 to
$1.8 billion in 1991
- top marginal tax rate went from 70% to 28%
- Americans gave 2.01% of their income to charity in 1992, highest since 1971
- deficit rise was due to unchecked growth in entitlements
The above list was compiled from several sources, including The Way Things Ought to Be by
Rush Limbaugh, the US Census, and other sources.
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