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National unemployment was about 10% in the early 80's and the U.S. was in what was then called the worst recession since the Great Depression.
Interest rates were doubled to fight inflation.
I bought my first property in 1981. The interest rate on my loan was 16.5% If I were to buy the same house today my monthly P&I would be less than it was then, despite 30+ years of appreciation indexed to inflation.
Reagan deregulated key aspects of the Savings and Loan industry. This opened the door to fraud and speculative real estate financing. About 700 Savings & Loan institutions failed in what later became known as the S&L Crisis and bail -out. Resolution Trust Company was formed to dispose of assets.
Reagan imposed serious increases to Payroll taxes to make certain there would be enough money when the baby boom began to retire, cept that he deficit spent all the money collected during his terms. Bush 1, Clinton and Bush 2 spent the rest.
Michael Milken, the father of ( unregulated) junk bonds, came to fame in the 80's with a reported $1 billion comp package.. It eventually caused the bankruptcy of his Wall Street, employer Drexel Burnham.
The top Federal tax rate in 1980 was 70%. It was reduced to 50% by 1986. Capital gains taxes were 20-25%. And here we are today going nuts over the lowest tax rates in 60 years. Go figure, eh?
Goevernment was expanded by about 90%, mostly on defense.
The national debt more than doubled during the 80's.
About 3 million undocumented workerswere given amnesty. The borders were not however controlled.
It's said that Reagan put the War in the war on drugs.
The networks broadcasted the news. Back then, news was not a profit center and so the media made no attempt to keep viewers in a perpetual state of panic, as cable news does now.
There was no internet, PC or cell/smart phones. No one could imagine paying a premium for TV or radio.
I think the 1980s were a good decade (compared to this one), however it was a time of growth of big scandal, corruption, greed, and evil. Which ushered in today's super scandal, super corruption, super greed and super evil. All the major players in politics and business learned to specialize and took greed and corruption and turned them into an artform during the 80s and now we reap the "rewards" of income inequality and injustice.
The original 24 hour news channel CNN also got started in the 1980's (didn't it?). They spent the 90s honing it into a virtual-talking-head-holographic-say-a-lot-but-yet-say-nothing "art form".
We used to have music as a common denominator, but now music is shattered into a million pieces. And so are the people. Coincidence? I don't think so.
I loved the 80s wish I could go back and raise my children back then.
I would gladly give up all the new technology, reality TV, superficial attitudes, Escalades, Mc Mansions, granite countertops, blaring 24 hour news hype and the list goes on and on.....
Except the fall of Communism in eastern Europe, the "people power" revolution in the Philippines, Pan Am 103, the Challenger disaster, Chernobyl, the rise of the personal computer...
...and the Iran-Iraq war, the Russian withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the rise of the neo-conservatives within the Republican party, all of which set the stage for our long wars and economic collapse in the 21st century.
The 80's made Japan enormously prosperous, but did not change their compulsive saving habits. This gave rise to the beginnings of China's industrial dominance 20 years later. And over in Europe, the leaders started talking about one big unified continent, which began the formation of the Euro, the first new important currency in about 400 years.
But other that all this, nothing much happened.
Oh- I forgot. Detroit made it's ugliest cars ever in the 80's, and people actually bought them!
The 80's seemed like such innocent times compared to now. It was probably the most peaceful decade of the last 100 years. Yeah we had the tail end of the cold war, but it was really a quiet decade. Movies were great in the 80's. So many blockbuster hits that even young people today enjoy. The comedies of the 80's were second to none. Movies in general have declined since the 80's. Hollywood hasn't been the same since.
The 80's definitely felt more peaceful. There were events in the world that proved less than peaceful. Yet overall the 80's was nothing like it is now. The violence, the hatred and constant killings all over the world and in this country. The nonstop news so we can hear about more school shootings. Again today in Texas. The 80's to me meant waiting those final last moments for MTV to first air in1980 I think it was. We never had nonstop music videos until that day Let alone 24 hours a day. It's when many of us starting paying for cable TV. Before we had antennas or rabbit ears. We got microwave ovens. I think car phones were coming out in the 80's It definitely was a time when TV seemed so much more enjoyable with actual TV shows that were entertaining. Decent movies were still being made but it seemed to be the end of that era from Hollywood. I definitely noticed after the 80's movies starting going downhill fast.
Who could forget the hairstyles of that day. The Mullet. I wish we could turn the clock back. Then again if we could I imagine many of us would say. Oh the 60's or 70's were the best times. For me though it definitely was the 80s. I loved the music and feel of those 10 years.
For me the 80's was the best time for pop culture, music, movies, fashion, TV and just plain fun. I graduated high school in 85 so I might be a bit biased. The 80's was still a time of innocence for the country. I think it was a time when we could still trust our elected officials to do the right thing, terrorists were crazy nuts who hijacked planes in other countries but not here. We were isolated from the worlds problems. Yeah we had a recession and unemployment but there wasn't a doubt that we would get out of it and be sronger than ever.
Hair bands, Michael Jackson, Reagan, Dallas, Fieros, ARNOLD, Miami Vice, Skinny Ties. Good times man.
Interesting everyone's perspective. MOST on this thread think the 80's were the greatest thing since sliced bread. Perspective is a great thing. Me? Worst times of my life. October 23, 1983 Beruit, Lebanon:
241 Marines killed (my friends) during a suicide bombing. I spent the next 2 weeks of my life digging them out.
I still live with the aftermath and nightmares. Yes, what a great decade indeed.
Kids ran around without a care in the world growing up...
I disagree. Our kids were born in the 80s and if anything, this was the beginning of parents needing to be on hyper-alert with their kids' safety. Six-year-old Adam Walsh disappeared from a Florida Sears store then, while his mother left him alone briefly to shop in another department. This case changed the whole concept of kids playing or interracting unsupervised in neighborhoods, parks and malls the way most of us did in prior decades.
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