| World-wide fiscal policies took great changes during the decade of 1980' s. The common feature of these policies was that government' s role in economy was weakened. It occurred in Reagan time USA, Thatcher time Briton, reform and opening policy China, Latin American countries from Chile in the south to Mexico in the north, large areas as whole Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union and so on.In America, for example, the then Reagan' s government tried to dispel some troublesome economic problems by reducing its inflation, the rate of tax and non-defense expense, it contrasted with Keynes' s emphasis on demand which is generally called as "Economics of Supplies" by scholars in the world. Actually, its basic theory can be tracked down to Adam Smith' s issue "The Wealth of Nations" published at the end of 18th century and also the people' s viewpoints of fiscal policy before Keynes.This paper tries to focus on other people' s researches on American fiscal policies especially during Reagan' s tenures for the purpose of absorbing and referring to their results in the study of American fiscal policies. On the other hand, this paper tries to find out what other people lacked and what they haven' t involved in the study of this area and at the same time to express its own view about it.Recalling briefly American traditional balance budget since 1930' s, this paper focuses on Reagan government' sefforts during his first tenure managing to change from deficit budget trace to balance budget trace and its results as well. It is the fact that economic theory, policy theory and practical theory are interacted. This paper studies mainly about American fiscal practice with some analysis of economic theories and policy theories. Based on this, through examining the fiscal theories and the change of policy theories in American history, this paper analyses the change of American fiscal policies, especially its causes and effects during Reagan' s tenure, and thus provides fully with convinced interpretation to the change of American macroeconomic policy.This paper also summarizes carefully American fiscal policies, especially Reagan government' s success and failure. Generally speaking, transitions of American fiscal policy are all following. The development of the important macroeconomic environment changing and some corresponding economic theories, each transition has been complied with and adopted to the requirement for development of the era, and also reflects blending and promotion of the economic theories and policies in practice. But in the process of practical operating, limited by people' s cognitive abilities as economic thoughts, sources of information, analysis techniques and the complexity in the identical decision—making, it is hard to aim at the direction of policy to choose the strength and chances of an uncertain world, fiscal policy will always face the test of misguiding policy. As far as the practice of American fiscal policy is concerned, though it has many successful experiences for us tolearn from, it has quiet a few unsuccessful experiences which must be remembered. |
