South Carolina Standard USHC-8.5
Abbeville High School
 How
did key political and economic issues of
the last twenty-five years such as
dependence on foreign oil, trade agreements
and globalization change American society?
 What changes in health care and education
took effect?
 How has the increases in economic disparity
between polarized the US?
 Economic
issues arising from changes in
international trade have intensified the
confrontation between conservatives and
liberals in the last twenty-five years.
 Globalization is the growing trend towards
expansion and integration of worldwide
trading networks.
 The
United States is impacted by
globalization as its place as the world’s
foremost economic power in the post World
War II world is challenged by growing
economies around the world.
 The United States continues to be dependent
on foreign oil and therefore the American
economy is impacted by fluctuations in world
oil prices.
In the 1990s, the European Common Market
developed into the European Union (EU) to
provide political cooperation as well as promote
democracy, trade, and the development of
European economies.
 A majority of members of the EU adopted a
common currency.

 In
the Western Hemisphere, the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
attempted to increase trade by eliminating
trade barriers.
 The
1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trades (GATT) lowered tariffs around the
world.
 As a result of this globalization, United
States industries are experiencing greater
competition and a growing unfavorable
balance of trade.
 The
tremendous growth
in the use of computers,
the Internet, E-bay, email, pagers, computer
games, and cell phones
by a large portion of the
population brought
changes to society,
privacy laws, and
communication networks
in the United States and
around the world.
Outsourcing of jobs to foreign markets where
labor costs are cheaper has resulted in
unemployment for some American workers.
 The internet and satellite communication have
promoted the outsourcing of some service jobs
to places such as India.

 Mechanization
and globalization are causing
a loss of manufacturing jobs in the United
States and a continued shift to jobs in
service industries.
 Added to this competition for jobs is the
influx of immigrants who are willing to work
at menial jobs for low wages.
 The resulting controversy over immigration
policies, especially of Hispanics, impacted
politics at the same time that trade policy
created political controversy about jobs.

With a loss of manufacturing jobs, labor unions
experienced a decline in membership and
influence as their workers faced competition
from overseas, new immigrants, further
mechanization of the manufacturing process,
and an increasingly hostile political climate.
 The
movement of industries and retirees
from the “rustbelt” to the “sunbelt” means a
big population shift to the “right-to-work”
states that continues to impact the political
influence of labor unions.
 Globalization
has also raised concerns about
how well the American education system is
preparing the nation’s children to compete in
the global marketplace.
 As a result “No Child Left Behind” was
passed during the George W. Bush
administration.
 This federal law mandated that states test
students to see if they meet increasingly
difficult goals to demonstrate academic
proficiency.
 Demographic
changes in the United States
also significantly affect the economy and
politics.
 Economic conditions make it increasingly
likely that both mothers and fathers have to
work to provide for the family.
 Demand for services such as day care and
fast food, and the resulting impact on the
obesity rate and health, are growing.
 Medical
advances prolong productivity and
life for many Americans.
 The aging population contributes to the
rising cost of health care and of health
insurance.
 As
workers lose jobs in manufacturing and as
companies drop benefits to maintain
competitiveness, many Americans are losing
their health insurance.
 Lack of basic health care increases the
burden on hospital emergency rooms and the
cost of health care continues to rise.
 An
attempt to pass health care reform
legislation during the Clinton administration
met with intense Republican opposition and
did not pass.
 Health care legislation was passed by the
Democrat controlled Congress during the
Obama administration but continues to be
politically controversial.
 The
aging population also contributes to
political controversies over the financial
burden of Social Security.
 Both issues contribute to arguments over the
yearly budget deficit and the national debt.
In the 1980s, yearly budget deficits due in large
measure to increased defense spending
contributed to an accumulating national debt.
 Thus, budget deficits and recession were
campaign issues in the early 1990s and
contributed to partisan rancor.

 Bill
Clinton was elected in 1992. In a
concession to critics on the right, Clinton
introduced welfare reform legislation that
modified decades of policy dating back to
the New Deal.
 Clinton’s health care reform legislation
became a partisan battleground.
 President Clinton and the Republican
Congress also fought over how to both
balance the budget and stimulate the
economy.
 Partisan
rancor was evident in continuous
investigations of the Clintons by a special
prosecutor and reached a peak when the
Republican–controlled House of
Representative impeached President Clinton.
 Unlike President Nixon, who tendered his
resignation rather than be impeached,
President Clinton maintained that he had not
engaged in an impeachable offense and was
tried by the Senate.
 The Senate refused to convict him and
Clinton remained in office.
 During
the Clinton administration a deficit
reduction plan that included a tax increase,
spending cuts, and the establishment of the
earned income tax credit was passed.
 The Federal Reserve kept inflation in check
and stimulated the economy by managing
interest rates.
 Resulting economic growth brought low
unemployment; but, the gap between rich
and poor continued to widen.
 The
national debt lessened as the world
experienced the end of the Cold War and the
‘peace dividend.’
 When Clinton left office there was a budget
surplus and the national debt was shrinking.
The outcome of the election of 2000 remained
undecided for several weeks beyond Election Day
as Democrats and Republicans contested the
counting of ballots in Florida.
 Finally, the Supreme Court stopped the recount
and Republican candidate George W. Bush won
the election.


During the Bush
administration,
tax cuts for the
wealthy
designed to
stimulate the
economy further
increased
economic
disparity and
eventually
budget deficits.
 When
the United States became involved in
wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in the post 9/11
era, defense spending climbed and the
United States again experienced deficit
spending and escalating debt.
 At the end of the Bush administration, the
housing bubble burst and the Bush
administration turned to deficit spending to
stop the decline.
 They initiated a stimulus package and a bailout for banks to forestall a deepening
recession.
 The
unemployment rate topped ten percent.
Tax revenues fell and deficits grew.
 This Great Recession saw the worst economic
conditions since the Great Depression of the
1930s as people lost their jobs and their
homes.
 The
election of 2008 came amid these
worsening economic conditions.
 Barack Obama, an African American, was
elected president.
 The Obama administration passed a second
stimulus package in an effort to jump- start
the economy.
 Conservative
critics objected to deficit
spending because it raised the national debt.
 However Congress did not repeal the Bush
tax cuts for the wealthy to bring in more
revenue to help to balance the budget.
 Although economists have declared that the
Great Recession has ended, lack of
confidence in the economy because of
political wrangling and the worsening debt
crises in Europe continue to dampen
consumer spending.
 At
the time of this writing, many Americans
remain unemployed, despite low interest
rates, and significant cash in the hands of
businesses.
 Currently deficits and debt continue to grow
as does the gap between the rich and the
poor.
 Conservatives and liberals continue to seem
unable to find a compromise solution and the
political extremes control the debate.