ABSTRACT
It is not yet clear how favorably history will treat the economic and social developments of the 1980s. That decade saw the longest peacetime expansion in U.S. history, with the nation’s GNP nearly doubling from $2.7 trillion to $5.3 trillion. During that time, nearly 100,000 Americans became million aires every year, and the top 20 percent of American families saw their aver age income increase more than $9,000.00, rising to $85,000.00 per year. Over 20 million new jobs were created, and full employment was maintained for much of the decade (Friedrich 1990, 76). It is certainly true that for many, the 1980s were a remarkable period of economic prosperity.
