Voodoo Economics
During the 1980 Republican presidential primaries, Bush the elder was running against Reagan. He derided Reagan’s pledge to cut taxes while hugely increasing the defense budget as “voodoo economics.” It was designed to line the pockets of the few at the expense of the many. Deficits exploded in the 1980s after tax rates were cut by Reagan in 1981. Bush the elder quickly forgot his campaign criticism and was Reagan’s vice-president. Protection and promotion of the rich in the U.S. has a long tradition with Republicans almost always in the lead but the Democrats are not too far behind.
Recorded at Metro State College.
Speaker
Michael Parenti
Michael Parenti was a leading independent political analyst, scholar, and author. Cornel West called him “a towering prophetic voice.” He taught at major colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad. He is the author of numerous books, including Democracy for the Few, Power and the Powerless, and Against Empire. He passed away on January 24, 2026, at the age of 92.
Questioning the Unquestionable
“It is not demanded of readers that they embrace my views, but that they reflect upon their own. How seldom we bother to explore in some critical fashion the fundamental preconceptions that shape our understanding of social and political life. How frequently, as if by reflex rather than reflection, we respond to certain cues and incantations, resisting any incongruous notion. Our opinions shelter and support us; it is an excruciating effort to submit them to reappraisal. Yet if we are to maintain some pretense at being rational creatures, we must risk the discomfiture that comes with questioning the unquestionable, and try to transcend our tendencies toward mental confinement.” – Michael Parenti
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