Arms, Revenue, and Entitlements - U.s. Deficits in the Cold War, 1945-1991

In the second half of the twentieth century, strategic and economic conditions compelled the U.S. government to start running budget deficits on a permanent basis. A new role of global leadership in containing communism required a robust military establishment. The federal government overwhelmingly relied for general revenue on an income tax code that also could not impede economic growth. And general revenue increasingly funded transfer payments in an expanding entitlement state. Fiscal overstretch resulted in unending deficits that continue to this day.

At first the shift to deficit normality was not obvious. The Truman and Eisenhower administrations attempted to hold the line on deficits, but this commitment gradually waned in subsequent years. Arms, Revenue, and Entitlements: U.S. Deficits in the Cold War, 1945-1991 looks at the Cold War era from a budgetary perspective and how defense spending, income tax reductions, and entitlement programs all contributed to the emergence of the deficit normative state. As national debt continues to climb in the twenty-first century, Arms, Revenue, and Entitlements shows how the U.S. reached this point and how a comprehensive policy approach might again restore fiscal stability.

List of contents

From the Surplus to the Deficit Normative State

Austerity Abandoned: Truman, 1945-1953

Austerity Retried: Eisenhower, 1953-1961

Idealism and Overreach: Kennedy and Johnson, 1961-1969

Adapting to Limits: Nixon, Ford, and Carter, 1969-1981

Deficit Horizon: Reagan and Bush, 1981-1991

Overstretch in the Twenty-First Century

About the author

By William Mannen

Product details

• Authors: William Mannen
• Publisher: Rowman and Littlefield
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.03.2020
• EAN: 9781793607096
• ISBN: 978-1-79360-709-6
• No. of pages: 198
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; USA, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Military Policy, Warfare & defence, Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999, United States of America, USA, Warfare and defence, Central / national / federal government policies, c 1945 to c 2000 (Post-war period), Central government policies