Reagan Effect or Purchasing and Supply Management

Reagan Effect: Economics and Presidential Leadership

Author: John W Sloan

Now that Reagan's achievements and failures have become more obvious, it is time for a new nonpartisan appraisal of his leadership and its impact on the nation. That is precisely what John Sloan delivers. Sloan focuses especially on the questions raised in the highly polemical debates between conservatives and liberals concerning Reagan's economic policies. He gives equal time to both sides, showing how liberals were wrong in their predictions of gloom, while conservatives continue to grant Reagan more credit and status than he deserves. While Sloan suggests that the net effects of Reagan's presidency were positive, he is not uncritical. He contends that Reagan's ridicule of attempts to promote social justice ultimately diminish his image as a great moral leader. He also observes that effective government - such as relying on the Federal Reserve to control inflation - was an essential component in Reagan's leadership, thus contradicting the antigovernment stance of many conservatives. Sloan concludes that Reagan's impact, as opposed to his rhetoric, was not to displace liberalism but to weld conservatism to it, and that neither the era of big government nor the need for effective national public policies is over.

Library Journal

The academic community remains polarized in its assessment of U.S. economic performance during the Reagan years. Sloan (political science, Univ. of Houston) attempts to evaluate the Left and Right critiques of Reagan's economic legacy and move beyond the polemics to present a balanced evaluation of those contentious years. Sloan discusses the many pluses (low inflation, revived competitiveness, increased production) and minuses (high deficits, a widening income gap, the S & L crisis) of the Reagan presidency and concludes that Reagan was a successful political leader whose contribution to the U.S. economy was mixed but positive overall. Reagan's failure to deal with issues of social justice diminishes the claim that he was a "moral leader," but, Sloan argues, his political skill in delivering on his agenda made Reagan a successful president. A valuable addition to the debate on the legacy of the Reagan presidency.--Michael A. Genovese, Loyola Marymount Univ., Los Angeles

Booknews

Sloan (political science, U. of Houston) assesses the views about the US president and his economic policies in light of the impact they have made. Focusing on the debates between conservatives, who hale him as a conservative revolutionary, and liberals, who think of him as Mr. Magoo, he finds that the former give him too much credit and that the latter were wrong in their predictions of gloom. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

Interesting book: Thai Cooking More or Puerto Rican Cuisine in America

Purchasing and Supply Management: With 50 Supply Chain Cases

Author: Michiel Leenders

The Leenders' text provides a comprehensive introduction to the purchasing and supply chain management field, supported by 50 case studies. Cases cover purchasing and supply chain issues in a variety of settings, from process industries to high tech manufacturing and services as well as public institutions. Supply Management concepts, both strategic and tactical, have been expanded throughout the text, particularly in new chapters on Supply Law and Ethics, Public Supply, and Supplier Relations. While all basic tenets of the purchasing function and cost issues remain, the coverage of the field is state of the art highlighting the supply chain approach.