Rise of Conservatism

Reagan and Conservative Politics 1980-1988 Restores the Conservative movement (Neo- Conservatives) Era of economic growth Republican domestic and foreign principles Tries to dismantle and does not fund many programs under the Great Society. Reaganomics- deficit spending to stimulate the economy, tax-cuts for the wealthy (Trickle-down economics/ Supply-side economics)

Recession 1980-1982: The Reagan Recession 1980s recession can be mostly attributed to the Iranian Revolution caused a sharp increase in the price of oil all around the world causing the 1979 energy crisis. U.S. enacted a tight monetary policy to control inflation, which led to another recession. Business bankruptcies 50% Farmers hit hard- agricultural exports down, crop prices fell, interest rates rose

W/ Double Dip Recession

The Cooling of Inflation Recession, falling oil prices and Federal Reserve control of money and credit reduced the rate of inflation 1983 recession over and there was an economic boom Reagan’s four-point plan helped with the boom and became the cornerstone for Conservative economic policy Tax cuts Reduce domestic spending Anti-inflation money policies to make a stronger dollar Deregulation- Creating a pro-business atmosphere that would end rules for corporations

Economic Problems Farmers Federal deficits soared Serious droughts in 1986-1988 Federal deficits soared 1980 $74 billion to $221 billion in 1986 falling to $152 billion in 1987 Trade deficit- $152 billion in 1987 Stock market crash 1987 Savings and Loans Crisis 1989 Savings and Loans – a financial institution that specializes in savings deposits and making mortgage and other loans. Thousands institutions failed- worst financial institution crisis since the depression Government bailed out the Savings and Loans at a cost of $185 million Due to bad investments Recession in 1991 and recovery began in 1992

Irony of Economic Booms Since the 1980s Average American Workers wages have not raised when adjusted for inflation over the past 3 decades. Workers are more productive but wages have not increased Manufacturing Jobs exported to other countries where workers are paid less Majority of the wealth is held by 1% of the population In comparison to white men ($1.00) White Women are paid $0.77-$0.79 Black and Hispanic Men $0.75 Black and Hispanic Women $0.64 Asian American Women $0.90 White men made $0.94 to Asian American men

Rise of Social Conservatism Social Conservatives favor preserving traditional beliefs and attitudes Social Conservatives tend to be Pro-life For Traditional Marriage In favor of smaller government and less spending Strong National Defense Promote family values and patriotic ideals

The New Right and the 1970s The New Right emerged and fought for the following single issues that reflected their interests Opposing abortion Blocking the Equal rights Amendment Opposed Court ordered busing Affirmative Action Believed affirmative action was a form of reverse discrimination

Conservative Groups Conservative Coalition An alliance of business leaders, middle-class voters, disaffected Democrats and fundamentalist Christian Groups William F. Buckley Jr. founder of the Wall Street Journal and the National Review promoted conservative policies and principles Think Tanks developed conservative policies and principles American Enterprise Institute and the The Heritage foundation

Moral Majority Evangelical Christians became a dominant group in the conservative movement Jerry Falwell formed an organization called the Moral Majority Argued for traditional moral lives Condemned liberal attitudes and behaviors Religious/ Christian Right became a huge voting bloc in the Republican party and formed the majority of its base.

Jerry Falwell

Technological Boom Computer Revolution in the 1980s created a boom in technology Microsoft created MS-DOS Made computers easier to work with, but very costly IBM-PC : First personal computer cost $1,600 Apple Lisa- Introduction of Graphic User interface made computers easier to use- scrapped due to cost Jobs removed from project C++ programming- Created by Bjarne Stroustrup Revolutionized programing languages

Technological Boom 1984 CD Rom invented for storage- lead the way in changing music formats January 1984: Apple Macintosh Similar to Lisa 2 better sales Graphic User Interface with multitasking abilities November 1985 Windows 1.0- a blend of Graphic User Interface and an operating system

Internet The Internet has no single inventor Started as a weapon and a way to communicate during the Cold War ARPANET- predecessor to Internet Created out of fear that the Soviets would disable America’s telephone system

Technology continues to boom 2000 Dot.com bust Online companies develop- no store fronts Investors thought this would be worth millions Too many companies created and Dot.com industry crashed Many jobs lost 2000- Google One of the best search engines created- expanding into multiple uses and even a self-driving car 2001 Wikipedia 2004 Facebook 2005 YOUTUBE 2005 Yahoo 2006 Twitter

Silicon Valley Technology boom led to the rise of Silicon Valley- Location in San Francisco Bay area and home to many successful tech companies And hopefully Silicon Beach