How the Economy Affected the Presidential Election of 1980

The election of 1980 between Governor Ronald Reagan, President Jimmy Carter and Representative John Anderson was an election that the economy played a strong role in the factor of Ronald Reagan being elected. During Carter’s presidency, inflation had increased from 6% to 12% and unemployment and interest rates were at record highs. 

 President Jimmy Carter

 President Ronald Reagan

Representative John B. Anderson

Electoral Map of the Presidential Election of 1980

During a Presidential debate, Ronald Reagan asked the public, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” There were other key factors in the election of 1980 such as the Iranian Hostage Crisis; however, experts believe that most Americans voted with their pocketbooks.

Citation: 

Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. <http://www.britannica.com/presidents/article-214227>.

"United States Presidential Election, 1980." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Dec. 2013. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1980>.

Links: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1980 

http://www.britannica.com/presidents/article-214227

The Political Economy Today

Today political economy commonly refers to how economics, law, and political science influence political environments, political institutions, and the economic system influence each other. Today political economy is broken down into three subject areas: the role of government and resource distribution, the international political economy, which looks at the economic impact of international relations, and the economic models used in political processes. 

The traditional topics associated with political economy are economic regulation, monopolies, market production, and distributional politics. Coming more into focus today is how the economy affects elections. Later blog posts will look at how the economy affected presidential elections.  

Citation: 
"Defining Political Economy." Defining Political Economy. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. <http://www.politicaleconomy.org/defining.htm>.
Link:

http://www.politicaleconomy.org/defining.htm 

History Behind the Political Economy

The aim of this blog is to understand how politics and a nation’s economy affect one another.  The term economist’s use for this is political economy. The meaning of political economy has varied over the years. Originally, political economy meant the study of how the conditions in a country affect production and consumption in the parameters organized by the government.  

The term political economy or économie politique first appeared in France in 1615 in a book by Antoine de Montchrétien. Following the book, many prominent theorists began to write about how politics and the economy influenced one another, such as Adam Smith , Karl Marx and Thomas Malthus. In the United States, political economy was first taught at the College of William and Mary where Adam Smith’s book “The Wealth of Nations” was a required textbook.

Citations: 

"Adam Smith-Wealth of Nations vs Karl Marx-Communist Manifesto - The Cold War."Adam Smith-Wealth of Nations vs Karl Marx-Communist Manifesto - The Cold War. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.

"Political Economy." Investopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.

Links: 

https://sites.google.com/site/caitelizabethm/fiverr-gigs

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/political-economy.asp