Arms, Revenue, and Entitlements

U.S. Deficits in the Cold War, 1945-1991

William Mannen

In the second half of the twentieth century, strategic and economic conditions compelled the U.S. government to start running budget deficits on a permanent basis. A new role of global leadership in containing communism required a robust military establishment. The federal government overwhelmingly relied for general revenue on an income tax code that also could not impede economic growth. And general revenue increasingly funded transfer payments in an expanding entitlement state. Fiscal overstretch resulted in unending deficits that continue to this day.

At first the shift to deficit normality was not obvious. The Truman and Eisenhower administrations attempted to hold the line on deficits, but this commitment gradually waned in subsequent years. Arms, Revenue, and Entitlements: U.S. Deficits in the Cold War, 1945–1991 looks at the Cold War era from a budgetary perspective and how defense spending, income tax reductions, and entitlement programs all contributed to the emergence of the deficit normative state. As national debt continues to climb in the twenty-first century, Arms, Revenue, and Entitlements shows how the U.S. reached this point and how a comprehensive policy approach might again restore fiscal stability.

Lexington Books

Pages: 198 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-7936-0709-6 • Hardback • July 2020 • $105.00 • (£81.00)

978-1-7936-0710-2 • eBook • July 2020 • $45.00 • (£35.00)

Subjects: Political Science / Public Policy / Military Policy, Political Science / American Government / General, Political Science / Public Policy / General

Arms, Revenue, and Entitlements

U.S. Deficits in the Cold War, 1945-1991

Hardback

eBook

Summary

In the second half of the twentieth century, strategic and economic conditions compelled the U.S. government to start running budget deficits on a permanent basis. A new role of global leadership in containing communism required a robust military establishment. The federal government overwhelmingly relied for general revenue on an income tax code that also could not impede economic growth. And general revenue increasingly funded transfer payments in an expanding entitlement state. Fiscal overstretch resulted in unending deficits that continue to this day.

At first the shift to deficit normality was not obvious. The Truman and Eisenhower administrations attempted to hold the line on deficits, but this commitment gradually waned in subsequent years. Arms, Revenue, and Entitlements: U.S. Deficits in the Cold War, 1945–1991 looks at the Cold War era from a budgetary perspective and how defense spending, income tax reductions, and entitlement programs all contributed to the emergence of the deficit normative state. As national debt continues to climb in the twenty-first century, Arms, Revenue, and Entitlements shows how the U.S. reached this point and how a comprehensive policy approach might again restore fiscal stability.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 198 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-7936-0709-6 • Hardback • July 2020 • $105.00 • (£81.00)

978-1-7936-0710-2 • eBook • July 2020 • $45.00 • (£35.00)

Subjects: Political Science / Public Policy / Military Policy, Political Science / American Government / General, Political Science / Public Policy / General

Author

William Mannen is independent scholar.

Table of Contents

From the Surplus to the Deficit Normative State

Austerity Abandoned: Truman, 1945-1953

Austerity Retried: Eisenhower, 1953-1961

Idealism and Overreach: Kennedy and Johnson, 1961-1969

Adapting to Limits: Nixon, Ford, and Carter, 1969-1981

Deficit Horizon: Reagan and Bush, 1981-1991

Overstretch in the Twenty-First Century

Reviews

“William Mannen has provided a balanced, first-rate story of American economic policy during the Cold War from Truman to Bush. The author captures the century’s complexities and how American policymakers adapted to the geopolitical changes shaping the contours of the tension-filled Cold War. No student of American twentieth-century political and economic history should be without this well-researched and indispensable study: a must-read. “
— Jeffery Cook, North Greenville University

Arms, Revenue, and Entitlements

U.S. Deficits in the Cold War, 1945-1991

William Mannen

Arms, Revenue, and Entitlements

U.S. Deficits in the Cold War, 1945-1991

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