Cohort information and changes in our national debt

Cohort issues[1] and laws with a chart below:

·         *Baby boomers (51-69 in 2015—earliest born in 1946)

·         *Gen X (35-50 in 2015—earliest born in 1965)

·         *Millennials (18-34 in 2015—earliest born in 1981)

 

 As far as domestic issues go in the period from 1950 to 2000, you don’t have to memorize. You can understand a lot by the age of the baby boomer—entertainment, whether they are having kids, getting out of college, looking for a job, considering retirement or a second career.  The numbers on the national debt in each of the years are from the prior textbook, Ayers American Passages.

Issue

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s   

1990s

2000-2008

2008-2017

National Debt

Deficit 5 of 8 years

1968 -$25 B – largest since WWII

$74 B – end of Nixon and Carter

1971-wage freeze; off gold standard

    5              5

$186B         $156B

 

For the 1990s, see table below.

[2]

 

President

1952-1956, 1956-1960 Dwight D. Eisenhower

1960-1963 John F. Kennedy

1963-1964, 1964-1968 L.B. Johnson

1968-1972, 1972-08/1974 R.M. Nixon; 08/1974-1976 Gerald Ford;
1976-1980 Jimmy Carter-stagflation

1980-1984, 1984-1988 Ronald Reagan –lowers taxes in “supply side” theory[3]

 

1988-1992 George H. Bush

1990-1992 – George H. Bush

 

1992-1996, 1996-2000 William Clinton

2000-2004, 2004-2008 George W. Bush

2008-2012, 2012-2017 – Barack Obama

If born in 1945

a Baby Boomer is 5 years of age in 1950

15 years of age in 1960

25 years of age in 1970

35 years of age in 1980

45 years of age in 1990

55 years of age in 2000

65 years of age in 2010

If born in 1965

 

a Gen Xer  is 5 years of age in 1960

15 years of age in 1970

25 years of age in 1980

35 years of age in 1990

45 years of age in 2000

55 years of age in 2010

If born in 1981

 

 

 

a Millennial is 5 years of age in 1986

15 years of age in 1996

25 years of age in 2006

35 years of age in 2017

                                                                                                                                                                                                Details about the 1990-1997

$222B 

$297B 

$255B 

$203B 

$25B

1990 

1992 

1993 

1994

1997 

 

 

Copyright C. J. Bibus, Ed.D. 2003-2017

WCJC Department:

History – Dr. Bibus

 

Contact Information:

281.239.1577 or bibusc@wcjc.edu

 

Last Updated:

2017

 

WCJC Home:

http://www.wcjc.edu/

 

 



[1] The age ranges for these cohorts are from this article from Pew Research: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/25/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers/

[2] The national debt is not specified in the section on the Bush term of 2000-2008, when the TARP crisis occurred. The general statement made about 2000-2008 is that George W. Bush “pushed through Congress a series of tax cuts, that, the White House said, were designed to assist the struggling economy. The budget surplus of the 1990s soon disappeared as a brief recession followed the end of the dot-com bubble. Record debt became one continuing legacy of the Bush era.” (page 872).

[3] See pages 1104-1106.