Money Talks: Alan Greenspan's Free Market Rhetoric and the Tragic Legacy of Reaganomics (Palgrave Studies in the History of Economic Thought)

This book explores the American freemarket economy, espoused by Alan Greenspan, the longtime chairman of the Federal Reserve, through decoding the discourse of economics. Combining an analysis of both economics and language, the legacy of Reaganomics is examined in relation to economic inequality, fiscal policy, public discourse, and the moral economy. How notions of easy money, conspicuous consumption, and unlimited economic growth were harnessed to justify the Free Market revolution is also discussed. This book aims to highlight the drivers of modern inequality and economic distress. It will be relevant to students and researchers interested in the history of economic thought and economic discourse. Geoff Klinger (1966-2021) was Professor of Rhetoric and Director of Forensics at DePauw University. His research and teaching interests included the connection between rhetoric and social theory; political communication; presidential, civil rights, and business rhetoric; and Supreme Court decisions Acknowledgments 6 Contents 7 About the Author 9 List of Figures 10 Chapter 1: Introduction: Painting by Numbers—Decoding the Discourse of Economics 11 References 20 Chapter 2: American Dream: Manufacturing Monetary Miasma 22 References 37 Chapter 3: Bread and Circuses, or Poppies to Make You Sleep 40 References 58 Chapter 4: Children of the Revolution: Reaganomics as Free Market Redux 60 References 77 Chapter 5: Spirits in the Material World: Alan Greenspan and the Newspeak Economy 79 References 96 Chapter 6: (Misery at the) Funplex: From Ideology to Imagology 98 References 112 Chapter 7: Public Image Limited, or He Blind(er)ed Me with Silence 114 References 135 Chapter 8: (Tell Me Why) I Don’t Like Mondays: The Crash of 1987 137 References 148 Chapter 9: Vision Thing: The Savings and Loan Debacle 149 References 164 Chapter 10: Who You Fighting For? Desert Storm and the Recession of 1990 166 References 178 Chapter 11: Telling Stories: Interrogating “Irrational Exuberance” 181 References 196 Chapter 12: The Disappointed: The “Great Recession” of 2008 197 References 215 Chapter 13: Tired of Sleeping: Trumped Up Trickle Down 217 References 234 Chapter 14: Epilogue: We Can’t Make It Here—Moving Beyond the Free Market 238 References 243 Index 244