Early 1980's Recession
Leading up to the Recession
In the 1970's there was a problem going on that was a very big pain for most Americans. The problem is inflation was on the rise and it was raising too fast. The government wanted to fix this and when Reagan became president he definitely wanted to fix this. Reagan had a plan that many people call "Reaganomics" that he put into place early on. He lowered the taxes for the wealthy in hopes that the money would trickle down to the middle and lower classes and lower inflation. This worked later on but first everything got a lot worse.
The Beginning of the Recession
The unemployment rate in 1980 was already an ugly number at 7.5% from a previous recession but that didn't keep it from getting any worse. Within a year it was up another 1% with many states reaching double digits. For those at work, it was getting worse too due to shrinking wages being caused by high corporate taxes. By January 1982, unemployment was dangerously reaching 9%. That's over 13 million people without a job! As the year went on, unemployment reached 10.6%. This might not be as bad as the great depression, but that doesn't mean it isn't at all bad.
The end of the Recession
By early 1983, you could notice a significant change in our government and economy. There were tax cuts, less government spending, and move movement of money. This, like I said, is Reaganomics. Corporations and the upper class now had a lot more money. They were then able to spend more and create new jobs. This made the number of unemployed shrink dramatically and inflation slowed down by a huge margin. This opened the door to one of the most colorful decades in history.
Above: Unemployed people in the bureau of unemployment in Chicago.
Below: Many people disagreed with Reaganomics and took it to protesting to end the recession.
Above: Reagan's speech on his form of economics.