JOB GROWTH:
Let's look at some numbers. President Reagan entered office in a period of high inflation which was stamped out by high interest rates that in turn led to the 1982 recession. His job-creation record after that may fairly be termed outstanding: nearly 20 million more Americans were employed when he left office than when the recession ended. Overall, including the recession on his watch, Reagan's net job growth over eight years was 16.1 million.
Reagan's economy was so strong that, for the last three-quarters of his administration, Americans were flooding into the workforce.
http://ijr.com/2014/01/109489-reagan-vs-obama-7-charts-prove-real-recovery/#PrettyPhoto[109489]/1/
OVERALL GROWTH:
The Reagan years brought annual real GDP growth of 3.5% -- 4.9% after the recession. In inflation-adjusted 2009 dollars, GDP jumped from 6.5 trillion at the end of 1980 to 8.61 trillion at the end of 1988. That's a 32% bump. -- it was the equivalent of adding the West German economy to the U.S. one.
SPENDING:
How about Reagan's spending record? Contrary to myth, and despite the opposition of a Democratic House of Representatives for his entire administration, Reagan achieved a reduction in federal spending as a percentage of GDP. That's including his famed military buildup often credited with ending the Cold War and hence delivering the "peace dividend" that helped dampen federal spending in the 1990s, in which Reagan economic policy largely stayed in place. Spending fell from 22.9% of GDP to 22.1% in 1989 .... Total accumulated debt was at 53% of GDP when Reagan left office. Today it is (the highest in recorded history -- the debt has exploded by 66% in the Obama years)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kylesm...n-did-better-on-jobs-and-growth/#cfb366655e19
