Reaganomics Review

The Reagonomics Review is a fictional American conservative satirical newsletter created by Charles Firth for his book American Hoax.

It was published between 1982 and 1985 which gently ribbed the supply-side deficit budget financing of the Reagan era's brand of economics — dubbed "Reaganomics". Originally edited by Edward McGuire, the publication was influential in shaping the opinions of a generation of conservative theorists in the mid-West and was arguably instrumental in bringing those conservative into line with mainstream conservative thought. It was an early champion of free-market liberalization and globalization, which was only just gaining ground at the time.

Writers for the Review viewed the deficit budget financing as suicidal from an economic perspective, but were supportive of the strategic nature of the expenditure. The later victory by the United States in the Cold War makes many of their articles remarkably prescient.

It had a robust letters section which allowed many young conservatives their first chance at serious, public political discussion, including James Carville and Kimberley Mills. But it was the controversial publication of the "Greenback Letters" that made Reaganomics Review popular. The letters purportedly came from a senior policy advisor at the White House, though many now believe it was an invention of the youthful editors (who were in their twenties at the time), especially since the identity of "Greenback" has never been uncovered. Nevertheless an essay competition now exists to pay homage to the Greenback Letters extraordinary blend of shoot-from-the-hip common sense and informed economic analysis.