Transition: The Significance of the Carter Years in American Fiscal and Budgetary Policy

Abstract

By re-examining the fiscal and budgetary priorities of the Carter administration at its 30th anniversary, this article offers a different view from previous studies about Carter policies. The author proposes three things: first, that the late-1970s were a transition from the Liberalist Movement in the prior half century to conservatism in economics and public attitude toward government; second, that the Carter administration filled in those years; and finally that in hindsight it could have been the administration's mission to launch the transition and push it through the initial difficulties. Placing the Carter presidency into its historical, political and economic context, the paper checks the intellectual development in this country till the 1970s, offering a new rationale for the mission of the Carter administration and explanations for its frustration. The paper concludes that by electing Jimmy Carter, Americans chose the right person to lead the transition and that the Carter administration finished its mission, though it could have been accomplished more beautifully.