Ronald Reagan leaves office with a domestic legacy of systematic corruption, regulatory capture, and policy failures that define American political economy for decades. The S&L crisis triggered by his deregulation will ultimately cost taxpayers $160 billion and require prosecuting 1,000+ bankers …
Ronald ReaganGeorge H.W. BushAmerican publicreagan-legacycorruptionpolicy-failureeconomic-inequalityderegulation
President Thomas Jefferson signs the Embargo Act, prohibiting all American ships from leaving port in an attempt at economic coercion against Britain and France, who are seizing U.S. merchant vessels during the Napoleonic Wars. Jefferson chooses commercial warfare over military confrontation after …
President Thomas JeffersonU.S. CongressNew England merchantsFederalist Partyeconomic-warfarefederal-overreachregional-conflictdemocratic-resistancepolicy-failure