It has been commonplace for over two decades now to argue that contemporary difficulties in the American economy derive from Keynesianstyle policy commitments dating from the early 1960s. The extremely poor macroeconomic performance of the 1970s, in fact, prompted a wholesale revision of federal economic practice known as “supply-side economics.” By the late 1980s, however, and now in the 1990s, it has become increasingly clear that many of the nation's current economic problems are the direct result of the imposition of supply-side policy regimes.

This part is concerned with the policy-driven causes of contemporary American economic decline. David M. Gordon, Thomas E. Weisskopf, and Samuel Bowles survey the failures of the conservative economic policies pursued during the 1980s. The many contradictions of the new policy making that has emanated from Washington are further explored by Robert A. Blecker.