Nixon's Economy: Booms, Busts, Dollars, and Votes.

• Author: HORWITZ, STEVEN
• Position: Review

Nixon's Economy: Booms, Busts, Dollars, and Votes By Allen J. Matusow Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998. Pp. xii, 323.

Over the last decade or so, there has been a substantial rethinking of the Nixon presidency. In the aftermath of Watergate, it was impossible to assess Nixon's actions objectively. But as the years have passed, his failures and successes in foreign policy have been examined more dispassionately, and many accomplishments have been noticed. Until the appearance of Allen Matusow's new book, however, Nixon's economic policies had not received a similar reassessment. In a very readable and well researched exploration of Nixon's economics, Matusow makes a compelling case that Nixon held no principled position whatsoever and that his economic policies were overtly and explicitly driven by his attempts to create a new electoral majority. In view of Nixon's having thoroughly politicized the economic-policy process for the purpose of vote-seeking, it is not surprising that his policies were responsible for the worst economic retrogression since the Great Depression. The Nixon presidency, as seen through Matusow's account, becomes an excellent case study in public-choice economics and the failures of interventionism.

Matusow's book is organized largely in chronological order, beginning with 1969 and roughly treating each succeeding year through 1974 in a separate chapter. In some cases where events warranted separate treatment, he has split years into different subject matter (for example, treating the oil shock in a distinct chapter). The more or less linear structure of the book allows the reader to gain a good sense of how Nixon's policies developed and changed over time as his political interests and changing circumstances dictated.

Three major strengths of Matusow's book deserve special mention. First, he has made extensive use of archival materials that were inaccessible until recently. By using the presidential office files, Bob Haldeman's extensive notes, and the various books and recollections of Nixon's associates, he has assembled a large amount of material from a variety of sources to document various meetings and discussions in great detail. The result is a very ugly view of the politicization of economic policy that puts one in mind of the old saw about not wanting to know how sausages or laws are made. Nixon's numerous vices are constantly on display: a hatred of his political enemies and a desire to use his...