The Seven Fat Years: And How to Do It Again [Hardcover]

Robert L. Bartley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 1992

Bartley argues that the economic boom of the 1980s was not a period of greed and excess that contained the seeds of the long-term decline and social problems that many commentators say will bedevil the USA into the next century. He argues that by keeping faith with "Reaganomics", further reducing taxes and encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit a sustained period of economic expansion can be achieved. Bartley attributes the current difficulties to a refusal to come to terms with the need for economic change and a misguided adherence to Keynsian economics which, he argues, are not relevant to the 1990s. He argues that cowardice and greed have caused the economy to falter, and denies that the massive budget deficit is a symptom of a deep economic malaise. A return to the policies of the 1980s would, in his view, create record levels of prosperity.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Wall Street Journal editor Bartley here extols economic policies of the Reagan years and calls for more of the same. Tracing the pre-Reagan "stagflation" produced by Nixon's price controls, Ford's WIN campaign and Carter's "voluntary" price guidelines, the author tracks how 1980s tax cuts and deregulation, combined with Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker's inflation-curbing money controls, unleashed American enterprise and boosted national production 30% with a 20% rise in per capita income. In extraordinary detail, and with frequent ironical jabs at the "unenlightened," Bartley analyzes (among other things) congressional economic attitudes (mostly awful), foreign trade debits (complex but necessary), the federal deficit (not to worry), the savings-and-loan debacle (the New Deal started it), mergers, acquisitions and junk bonds (not so bad, really) and the fallacy of "fairly" taxing the rich. He puts in a good word, too, for Jay Gould and other maligned 19th-century "robber barons" for their roles in our economic expansion.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This is a history and unabashed defense of supply-side economics and the Reagan economic revolution of 1982-89 by the editor of The Wall Street Journal . His basic thesis is that the "Seven Fat Years" can be reproduced for an indefinite period if we simply return to the lower taxes of supply-side economics (or "the new classical economics," as Bartley prefers to call it). Further, he believes that with the United States now the sole superpower and its standard of living the envy of the world it can provide the economic leadership for a worldwide "belle epoque." "The moral of the Seven Fat Years is that economic growth counts." In addition to his arguments for supply-side economics, Bartley provides an interesting history of the development of that school of thought in the 1970s under the intellectual leadership of such figures as Arthur Laffer, Robert Mundell, and Jack Kemp. Recommended for academic and public libraries.
- Jeffrey R. Herold, Bucyrus P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; First Edition edition (May 4, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 002901915X
• ISBN-13: 978-0029019153
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,357,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The True Story on How Economics Works, June 17, 2004

By 

Michael Gordon "Michael Gordon" (Los Angeles, Ca) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Seven Fat Years: And How to Do It Again (Hardcover)

Robert Bartley, former editor of the Wall Street Journal (may he rest in peace), has written one of the best accounts of the 1980s economic policies, explaining what led to the economic growth, and what can be done to re-create these policies once again.

Many people who claim to oppose supply-side economics never explain how the theory works. The notion that Reagan's tax cuts were mere "trickle down" economics is buttressed by the fact that no one claims that the money will "trickle down." That is not how the economic philosophy works in theory or in practice. Instead, the theory considers high taxes to be another example in which a high cost placed on a product or service is likely to result in fewer interested buyers. Similarly, high marginal tax rates are more likely to stiffle growth since the reward for working additional hours is diminished. Those with small businesses, or those who invest, may decide that the extra work will not translate into higher returns, and thus may produce less. That is not good for the economy because this stiffles economic growth, and is a recipe for stagnation, which is exactly what happened in the 1970s. So reduce taxes to create more growth. The marginal rate fell from 70% to 28% during Reagan's tenure.

The other part of Reagan's program was to have a tigheter monetary policy. By tightening the dollar, it would reduce inflation. Thus, tighten the dollar, reduce inflation, and reduce taxes, and create growth. That is exactly what happened. During Reagan's tenure, inflation went down and growth went up. THIS IS AN INDISPUTABLE FACT.

The left does not like this theory because it contradicts the notion that government has an effect in creating economic growth.

But no matter what the liberals want to think, the young economist who went to Eureka College -- Ronald Reagan -- outsmarted all of them. His plan worked, while Jimmy Carter, the man who thought he knew everything, was an abyssmal failure.

Michael Gordon

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the truth about economics and taxes in the 80's, July 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Seven Fat Years: And How to Do It Again (Hardcover)

With the continual lies told of what happened in the 80's this book sets the record straight. Robert Bartley tells the truth and shows you what really happened in the 80's. This is a history book that should be required reading in every high school in America insted of the Re-Written history that is taught today by the liberal education estabishment. Ronald Reagan's economic policies work and this book shows it and shows us how to do it again. If you are a disbeleiver in the economic growth of the 80's caused by Ronald Reagan's policies read this book and see the truth, not the lies that have prevailed for so long.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly important work in understaind basic economics, January 2, 2002

By 

Enigma "Cheers" (Washington, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Seven Fat Years: And How to Do It Again (Hardcover)

The Seven Fat Years is the definitive history of Ronald Reagan's economic policy achievements. But rather than just heaps of praise upon Reagan's policy he goes and does the next step. He shows without a doubt that what truly works in creating real and lasting prosperity. He takes the theory of supply side economics, what the leftist news media slammed and never reported on in a fair and intelligent matter, and makes it highly accessible to any layperson. If you are not a convert after living though the 80's and you are still not a convert after reading this text you a hopelessly incurable socialist.
I would suggest that you also read another book "Economics on Trial: Lies, Myths and Realities" By Mark Skousen. With those two books digested you will know more about real economic policy than 99.9% of all university economics professors.