About this episode
The episode discusses the parallels between the current political and economic climate and the crises of the 1970s, focusing on the lessons Democrats can learn from Ronald Reagan's leadership.
The moment we are living through is looking ever more like the 1970s — in the depth of the crises we face, and in its potential to create a genuine rupture with what came before. I remember Ronald Reagan in the United States and Margaret Thatcher in Britain. Iran has reoccupied center stage and fears of stagflation looms again. In the late 1970s, Americans sensed that their country was growing weaker in the world, (Vietnam, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iranian hostage crisis. Today there is a war and an economy without a coherent strategy or clear objectives. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment hit its lowest point in more than 70 years, and the International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday that war in the Middle East could slow growth and fuel inflation, risking a global recession. Voter discontent is a normal part of a democracy. But what we saw in the 1970s and what we are seeing now is distinctive: a comprehensive loss of faith in the future, a collapse of respect for our governing institutions and alarm that American influence in the world is doomed to diminish. The Democrats are called upon to make the leap past our problems. Perhaps they need to…
People in this episode
Host: Ken Scott Baron
Topics covered
- political history
- economic crisis
- Democratic Party
- voter discontent
- global recession
- leadership lessons
Keywords
- Reagan
- Thatcher
- stagflation
- consumer sentiment
- Democrats
- political imperatives
- global recession
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: International Monetary Fund
Places: United States, Britain, Iran, Vietnam, Afghanistan
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